Willy Gnonto has been talking about his time at Leeds so far as part of a Sky Sports series named Italians.
The segment focuses on Italian footballers who have spent time playing abroad, with the Leeds No.29 quizzed on a range of topics, including which Premier League player has impressed him the most.
What’s the story?
Well, Gnonto revealed that Erling Haaland has caught his eye more than anyone else since he joined Leeds from FC Zurich back in August.
The 19-year-old told Sky Italia: “Haaland, Haaland, Haaland. He’s obvious, but he’s a monster. You don’t really realise from the TV, he’s dominant, something incredible.”
Interestingly, Gnonto could have been teammates with the Norway international had things turned out differently.
Haaland – who was born in Leeds and actually supports the Whites – came close to moving to Elland Road back in 2017 for a sum of just £4m.
However, Leeds were not in a position to pay such a fee for Haaland – who was just 17 – at that time, and he eventually remained at Molde before developing into a superstar.
Football agent Hayden Evans told The Phil Hay Show: “We spoke to Victor (Orta) and said look, I can bring Erling to Leeds and the rest will be over to you.
“It went quite well, we went back, but the bottom line was that Molde wanted around four million pounds. Leeds were not in the stable position they are in now and he was not going to play, even the talent he was, he was not going to play first-team football at that age.”
Gnonto could be a new Haaland for Leeds
Interestingly, Leeds signed Gnonto for just £3.8m at the age of 18 – there are clear parallels between that deal and the situation involving Haaland back in 2017.
Of course, it will take a lot for the Italy international to match what Haaland has already achieved at the age of just 22.
Nevertheless, it says a lot about how far Leeds have come since 2017 that they now find themselves able to take gambles on promising talents like Gnonto for sums of around £4m – quite a lot for a teenager – something they were unable to do when Haaland was available.
Hopefully, Gnonto continues to shine at Elland Road, and helps Leeds fans forget about what they could have had with Haaland.
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