Leeds United: Farke and 49ers made major transfer mistake revolving Willy Gnonto - View | OneFootball

Leeds United did not need to replace Summerville with Ramazani and Solomon when Gnonto remained on their books.

Leeds United sold Georginio Rutter to Brighton and Crysencio Summerville to West Ham this summer, but the likes of Willy Gnonto, Brenden Aaronson, Largie Ramazani, and Manor Solomon will hope to help fill that void for Daniel Farke.

Gnonto has seen some of his youngest and highest potential teammates depart Leeds in recent months, but he has remained at Elland Road beyond the transfer deadline, and will hope that he can combine with his new teammates to fire Farke's side to promotion.

It was the second squad exodus in as many summers at Leeds, with the likes of Archie Gray, Summerville, and Rutter all heading to the Premier League for significant sums. Gnonto, instead, signed a new contract at Leeds that will keep him at the club for the next four years.

Crucially, the deal does not include a release clause. After Leeds were stung by various loan clauses and exit/release clauses in the last few years. They won’t suffer the same way with Gnonto, as it has been announced that he has put pen to paper on an extension, and Fabrizio Romano crucially revealed that it doesn’t contain a release clause.

Leeds United's attacking options to work alongside Willy Gnonto

The supporting cast in Farke's attack is not short of options and quality for the rest of the season, but Gnonto can expect an increased volume of starts as one of the players capable of the required attacking output, be that through moments of individual brilliance to be a match-winner himself or through supplying those around him.

After Summerville's departure, many had assumed Leeds would move Gnonto to the left flank, which is where his best form had come in the Premier League with Leeds. A restructuring of Leeds' forward line could see the diminutive winger switch to the opposite flank after he operated more frequently from the right last year.

Instead, he is accommodating Solomon at present, whilst staying on the right even when Ramazani has been introduced from the bench in the last two league outings. Both Ramazani and Dan James are comfortable at attacking the box from the right-hand side, but that has seldom been seen with Gnonto on the left outside the first game in the league season.

Coincidentally, Gnonto's one and only goal contribution this season so far came against Portsmouth in that fixture. Gnonto may well be two-footed enough to thrive as the right-sided winger, but can be an even greater difference-maker in the final third on the left or even in Rutter's former position centrally with a free role.

The Italian didn’t quite hit the same heights last year as Rutter or Summerville, but he still contributed eight goals and two assists from 36 regular league appearances, and is a player with as much potential as the former pair. With a goal on opening day, showcasing what he can do when utilised in his best position.

The likes of Rutter, Jaidon Anthony, and Summerville have essentially been replaced in the first-team by Solomon, Ramazani, and the return of Aaronson from loan. However, the squad-building perhaps lacks some joined-up thinking with that collection of forward options.

Especially as Gnonto could and perhaps should be the natural successor to Summerville's throne, but the club decided that further additions were needed to support Leeds in the left-wing area. We dissect that choice further, here.

Leeds left-side dynamic without Gnonto

It’s interesting that Farke boasts arguably two of the best left-wingers in the league in Solomon and Gnonto, and potentially three if you include Ramazani on that side of the pitch, too. When looking at Gnonto’s impact on the right, it’s quite inconsistent, unsurprisingly so because he’s not best as a right-winger — shown by how often he drifts infield to create as part of a narrow attacking trio alongside Aaronson and Solomon in recent displays.

There’s more than one issue at play for Farke here, with his right channel a deadzone in a lot of games this season and last, from front to back. He was initially signed as a winger, predominantly occupying the left; but with Summerville showing his best there last season, Gnonto had to settle for the right-wing more often than not.

Plenty of Leeds' approach in the summer made sense, even if the quality of the squad was likely to be worse than last term. Replacing Summerville, Gray, Rutter, and the like was always going to be both difficult and expensive. However, in the circumstances, Leeds did well to find quality additions at cut-price fees, which have improved the floor and balance of the team, even if not the ceiling.

Isaac Schmidt, Ao Tanaka, and Joe Rothwell help to resolve issues in problem areas with both added depth and quality to act as analogues to other quality options in the Leeds squad. However, Rutter was not replaced with a No.10, and instead Farke and the Leeds hierarchy have added two more left-side dominant players to their ranks.

Gnonto, on paper at least, may well be the Whites' best player, let alone their best winger. However, Solomon and Ramazani's arrivals together lack some logic, and have not provided the same balance that other additions have addressed across the squad. Gnonto could have been Leeds' starting left-winger but will instead play more down the flank he has shown worse form on, highlighting Leeds' imbalance.

One of those signings could have been a specialist No.10 or specialist right-winger, which would help to keep Gnonto in his optimum area to do damage when inverting and combining infield and onto his stronger foot in the half-spaces. A more efficient and progressive No.8 such as Tanaka or Rothwell playing alongside Ethan Ampadu might be the key to connecting Jayden Bogle and Gnonto on the right side of the pitch better, but there was an easier solution.

Farke certainly has to find a fix, but he need not have found it had they gone for an alternative profile over one of Solomon or Ramazani. They are both excellent footballers and will score and assist plenty with Gnonto, but it was perhaps a mistake to add both when they needed a central connector or a natural inverted right-winger.

Gnonto can thrive in any attacking role, as he is more than happy to receive and play in tight spaces. But he is arguably at his best when he can roam free and attack the box. And, even though he has shown signs of inverting more this season, having been utilised off both flanks already, the angle for him from the left is preferred to the right and could well have seen his attacking output soar this year.

Hamstringing themselves with three left-wingers (Gnonto, Ramazani, Solomon) and one right-winger (James) is a poor recruitment decision and a confusing approach to squad-building when they lack other attacking profiles. That's despite the fact Farke and the recruitment team have certainly signed some good players and balanced the team in numerous ways better than his 2023/24 squad.

However, was balancing so many areas of the side except for the wingers worth it for Leeds? The quality alone should be enough to be competitive at the very top-end of the division, but could have been even better with a minor tweak to get the very best out of the 20-year-old Italian instead.