Leeds' Wilfried Gnonto: ‘I probably have something to prove in the Premier League'

New York Times

19-07-2025

'Waaaah waaaah I not wanna play in the Championship'.
It's a message that stayed with Wilfried Gnonto for two seasons. Leeds United fans had mocked up an image of him as a baby, with that caption splashed across the top.
This was not any old social-media meme, either. No, this was printed on a sizeable banner which was then unfurled among the home support at Elland Road in August 2023. Leeds were hosting West Bromwich Albion in the second tier, six days after it had emerged the Italian was refusing to play.
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Across that first summer after the club's relegation back to the EFL, it became clear Gnonto was among the legion of their players trying to swerve England's second division. He started the first game of that season, but was missing from the next three as he tried to force his way out.
Leeds, beset by a catalogue of relegation-related release clauses, were adamant that the young Italian forward, one of the few players without such an exit loophole, was not for sale. New manager Daniel Farke had him training away from the squad, with fellow mutineer Luis Sinisterra, until he, metaphorically, put his dummy back in and agreed to play.
'I had the banner in my phone for two years,' Gnonto tells The Athletic. 'Everyone was sending me stuff and I didn't really take it personally. It was quite fun, to be fair.
'It was a tough period of my career, in my life, but I feel like it helped me to grow into the person I am today. I feel like it was an experience I needed, to understand more what happens in football, all the ups and downs that can happen.
'Now I feel like I enjoy it more. I'm a better man. I'm a bit more experienced and I really needed it.'
A picture from August 2023 has been flagged with Gnonto nearly two years on because he recirculated it himself.
In an Instagram post celebrating Leeds' promotion back to the Premier League in May, the final slide of 14 images was the banner. He captioned it: 'I not wanna play in the Championship.'
A post shared by Wilfried Gnonto (@willy.gnonto)
Barring a transfer, he won't have to in the coming season. Leeds make their return to the Premier League with the visit of Everton on Saturday, August 16.
That 2022-23 top-flight season may have been an ill-fated one for the Yorkshire club, but for Gnonto, it was a first taste of English football that launched his career.
He'd arrived as an 18-year-old on deadline day at the start of September, having been written off — even before he'd moved from Swiss side Zurich — by Leeds' head coach at the time Jesse Marsch as a long-term project. Asked in the August if Gnonto was Premier League-ready, the American said, 'No, but we know who he is. With him, it'd be more of a long-term project.'
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'I saw Jesse's words,' Gnonto says. 'I always thought I could make an impact in the Premier League. Maybe I was a bit young and I didn't really understand what was going on, but at that point, I felt like I could play there, and I proved to myself I could do it.
'It's nice to be back. I probably have something else to prove because I want to prove myself again, that I can be there. I know I can be there and I want to show everyone. It's going to be fun.'
Gnonto would eventually force his way into Marsch's plans, starting 14 of 15 games in all competitions between that November and the following February. At his best, he scored four goals in seven appearances during that spell, including a first-minute opener against bitter rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Three seasons on, Gnonto is still only 21, but hoping to be a difference-maker for Leeds in their first season back in the domestic elite. His best assets, dribbling and pace, could be critical if they find themselves counter-attacking their way out of sustained opposition pressure in the months ahead.
'It's way different from the Championship,' he says of the Premier League. 'In most games (during those two seasons back in the second tier), we had the ball for the whole time and were playing against low blocks. It's a bit difficult, but in the Prem, you have more space for teams like ours.
'We are going to try to exploit them (those spaces) and use them. For me, it's going to be fun — one-v-ones, and then it's going to be up to me to make things happen and change the game.'
Just how do Leeds intend to deal with the leap up in class, considering that anticipated loss of their precious Championship-level possession domination? After a fulfilling summer break, split in two in his case by being part of Italy's squad at the European Under-21 Championship, Gnonto and his team-mates have already heard about it from Farke.
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'We've had a couple of moments,' he says. 'We spoke about the way we want to play, how we want to approach the season and how we are not going to change our approach. Obviously, the level is high, but we want to be aggressive, we want to be dictating games. Hopefully, that's what is going to happen. When you play against top teams, it's not always going to be possible, but it's good to have this type of approach and mentality.'
While Gnonto was in Japan on holiday, where he says it was a coincidence to bump into team-mates Ao Tanaka, Isaac Schmidt and Joel Piroe, Leeds were pursuing new players for their squad. Last night, Sean Longstaff became the latest to join Leeds, following Lukas Nmecha, Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Gabriel Gudmundsson to Elland Road.
While he was always unlikely to say otherwise, Gnonto sang the praises of the club's summer arrivals. Character is almost as important as technical ability when it comes to recruitment in football.
Over the three years he has been with Leeds, Gnonto has seen the squad change, including the dynamic off the field — around the training ground. It's a welcoming place, where it's hard not to get along with team-mates.
'The group has changed a lot since I arrived here,' he says. 'In the first year, it was a bit more difficult to speak to people. There were many small groups. I feel like now everyone just gets along with each other. It's fun to be here and we never had problems. Everyone is working hard, having fun. When people come, they have no problems adapting and we just try to make it as easy as possible for them.'
Despite not turning 22 until November, there are only six players in the current Leeds dressing room with more appearances for the club than Gnonto. He speaks with maturity about the squad, helping new players to settle in and what's ahead in the Premier League.
He's not the baby of their top-flight group anymore.