Manchester City, Arsenal and Roma ‘eye move for Leeds forward Willy Gnonto’… with the Italian teen impressing with international form despite Premier League relegation
- Leeds United forward Willy Gnonto has attracted interest from England and Italy
- Manchester City, Arsenal and Roma are among the clubs reportedly watching
- Leeds were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday after a 4-1 defeat
Willy Gnonto is attracting Premier League and Serie A interest, despite being relegated with Leeds in his first season in the English top flight.
The Italian forward, 19, joined Leeds United last year from Swiss side Zurich, and made 24 appearances, scoring twice.
However, the teenager’s performances were not enough to keep the Yorkshire club from being relegated to the Championship on the final day of the English season, after a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road.
Leeds may decide to sell the young talent – and it is thought that Arsenal and Manchester City are among the Premier League teams ready to swoop for Gnonto, according to Calcio Mercato.
Meanwhile, Roma, Fiorentina and Sassuolo are the Italian Serie A clubs who were tempted to sign Gnonto last season, but ultimately unable to sway Zurich, who opted to sell to Leeds instead.
Teen talent Willy Gnonto has attracted interest from Premier League and Serie A clubs
It comes despite Gnonto’s relegation to the Championship during his first season at Leeds
Gnonto became Italy’s youngest ever goalscorer last year, breaking a record set in 1958
Now that Leeds face some time in England’s second-tier, they might be willing to sell, and those Italian clubs might now get their opportunity to get a teen talent who plays for their national side.
Last year, Gnonto became Italy’s youngest ever goalscorer, breaking a record held by Bruno Nicole since 1958.
Since making his senior debut for the national side last summer, he has made 10 appearances for Italy – and his international prowess as well as club showing has attracted some high-quality attention.
Leeds must decide on their management situation immediately, with the club set to engage in talks with current boss Sam Allardyce following his interim spell in charge.
There will also be some questions posed over the personnel that make up the Leeds team, with American Brenden Aaronsen rated the worst player in the Premier League on a statistical level following his debut season in the English top-flight.
