{"id":494536,"date":"2025-10-12T21:34:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T21:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/494536\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T21:34:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T21:34:16","slug":"pros-cons-to-selling-willy-gnonto-to-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/494536\/","title":{"rendered":"Pros & Cons to selling Willy Gnonto to Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Saudi Arabian clubs are reportedly preparing a mega offer to sign Willy Gnonto<\/a> from Leeds United<\/a> in January.<\/strong><\/p>\n

United are only seven games into their Premier League season, but there will be work going on behind the scenes to plan for the January window.<\/p>\n

Daniel Farke was vocal in his eagerness for more attacking options, which must be rectified in the new year.<\/p>\n

Most Read on LeedsAllOver<\/p>\n

However, reports this week claimed that United winger Willy Gnonto could be subject to a mega offer to move to Saudi Arabia<\/a>. It is suggested that Saudi Pro League duo Neom SC and Al-Ittihad could look to test Leeds\u2019 resolve in the new year.<\/p>\n

Gnonto is currently recovering from a calf strain but will be looking to show his worth to the club as soon as he\u2019s back, hopefully next weekend at Burnley.<\/p>\n

Here, we explore the pros and cons of Leeds accepting any offer that may come their way from Saudi Arabia for Gnonto\u2026<\/p>\n

Pro: Leeds given huge PSR leeway by selling Willy Gnonto<\/p>\n

Shortly after the summer deadline passed, managing director Robbie Evans looked to shed some light on what was a disappointing end to the window.<\/p>\n

Fans (and presumably Farke) were left fuming at the lack of attacking additions following Noah Okafor\u2019s arrival. However, Evans revealed that the club had virtually \u2018maxed out\u2019<\/a> what they could spend regarding their PSR threshold.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United need a major sale to give themselves space on PSR. (Action Images\/Lee Smith)<\/p>\n

The way for United to rectify that ahead of January would be to sanction a major sale, and Gnonto would be just that player.<\/p>\n

Penning a contract extension just over a year ago to run until the summer of 2028, the ball is in Leeds\u2019 court. If a Saudi Arabian club wants the Italian, they\u2019ll have to pay an eye-watering sum.<\/p>\n

Con: Willy Gnonto is Leeds\u2019 most creative attacker <\/p>\n

An obvious con is that Gnonto is Leeds\u2019 most creative attacking player as things stand.<\/p>\n

Okafor has proven to be a serious threat out on the left through his raw pace and courage to get 1v1 with his full-back at every opportunity.<\/p>\n

\"\"(REUTERS\/Jaimi Joy)<\/p>\n

On the right, there\u2019s a dearth of creativity to complement Jayden Bogle\u2019s ever-present quality. Gnonto is probably the best solution as things stand.<\/p>\n

Letting that creativity leave in January, with little time to replace in a very tough market, could be a massive mistake.<\/p>\n

Pro: Leeds could reinvest in multiple signings<\/p>\n

If Leeds want multiple signings in January, they might be very tempted to cash in on Gnonto.<\/p>\n

Sunderland looked like they were facing an immediate setback when talents Jobe Bellingham and Tommy Doyle left for around a combined \u00a337million<\/a>. Those sales provided a platform to overhaul their side with much-needed investment across the board.<\/p>\n

\"\"Daniel Farke will want new signings in the January window. (REUTERS\/Jaimi Joy)<\/p>\n

Using that logic, if Leeds got a likewise huge sum for Gnonto, it helps clear headroom on PSR terms to reinvest in multiple positions that may require it.<\/p>\n

Beyond the right-wing, fans may think another striker could be viable, as well as potentially a number 10.<\/p>\n

How you fit all those signings in the same 25-man squad is a mystery. That said, those perceived weaknesses could be addressed if a player is sold, be that Gnonto or anyone else.<\/p>\n

Con: Selling Willy Gnonto leaves Leeds even shorter on the right<\/p>\n

Yes, selling Gnonto would allow Leeds to reinvest and finance multiple fairly hefty transfer fees in January.<\/p>\n

But, as mentioned above, Leeds would be losing their most creative attacker, and therefore forced to replace him.<\/p>\n

Not only would they need to replace Gnonto, but Leeds would also need to find another right-winger. We are already short in that position without factoring in his exit, so him leaving doubles the challenge.<\/p>\n

So, that\u2019s two right-wingers needed in one January window. That sort of frantic task very rarely brings success in the market.<\/p>\n

Read more: 3 undervalued GEMS Leeds United could sign this January\u2026<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Saudi Arabian clubs are reportedly preparing a mega offer to sign Willy Gnonto from Leeds United in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,25764,393,4884,1860,2922,142361,6506,142362,16,15,4514],"class_list":{"0":"post-494536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-elland-road","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-leeds","13":"tag-leeds-united","14":"tag-lufc","15":"tag-saudi-arabia","16":"tag-the-whites","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-wilfried-gnonto"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115363347389365614","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}