Wilfried Gnonto

Degnand Wilfried "Willy" Gnonto (Italian pronunciation: [ˈɲonto]; born 5 November 2003) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship club Leeds United and the Italy national team.

Wilfried Gnonto
Personal information
Full name Degnand Wilfried Gnonto
Date of birth (2003-11-05) 5 November 2003
Place of birth Verbania, Italy
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Leeds United
Number 29
Youth career
2008–2010 Baveno
2010–2012 Suno
2012–2020 Inter Milan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2021 Zürich II 3 (2)
2020–2022 Zürich 65 (9)
2022– Leeds United 31 (3)
International career‡
2018–2019 Italy U16 10 (1)
2019–2020 Italy U17 10 (5)
2021 Italy U18 1 (0)
2021–2022 Italy U19 10 (5)
2023– Italy U21 3 (1)
2022– Italy 13 (1)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Italy
UEFA Nations League
Third place2023 Netherlands
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:31, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 September 2023

Early life

Gnonto was born in Verbania, Italy, in 2003 to Ivorian parents and he grew up in Baveno, where he attended a liceo classico before switching to pursue secondary education at a liceo scientifico.[1][2]

Club career

FC Zürich

A youth product of Inter Milan since the age of nine, Gnonto joined Swiss club Zürich on 23 April 2020.[3] Gnonto made his professional debut with Zürich as a substitute in a 4–1 away Swiss Super League win over FC Vaduz on 24 October 2020, and assisted his team's final goal.[4] He scored his first professional goal on 21 May 2021, once again in a 4–1 league home win over FC Vaduz, after replacing Antonio Marchesano in the second half.[5]

In his second season, he won the 2021–22 Swiss Super League title with the club, with four games remaining.[6]

Leeds United

On 2 September 2022, Gnonto joined Leeds United on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[7] He made his Premier League debut on 29 October, in Leeds’ 2–1 win against Liverpool at Anfield, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Jack Harrison and opening the action that led to the winning goal by Crysencio Summerville.[8] On 5 November, he again replaced Harrison in the second half of the league match against Bournemouth, eventually assisting Summerville for his second consecutive winning goal.[9]

On 4 January 2023, Gnonto scored his first Premier League goal for Leeds, a 28th minute opener in a 2–2 home draw against West Ham United.[10] Two weeks later he scored a brace for Leeds in an FA Cup third round replay against Cardiff City at Elland Road, a volley within the first minute and a goal scored in the 36th minute in a 5–2 win.[11]

On 8 February 2023, he scored less than a minute into Leeds' 2–2 draw with Manchester United, following a pass from Patrick Bamford.[12] In doing so, he became the youngest overseas player to score at Old Trafford in a Premier League fixture.[13]

In August 2023, Gnonto refused to play for Leeds in an attempt to force a transfer away from the club, following Leeds' relegation to the EFL Championship at the end of the 2022-23 season:[14] he then returned to training and officially apologized to manager Daniel Farke at the end of the month.[15] On 26 August, in his first game since his return, Gnonto scored a goal in a 4–3 away league win over Ipswich Town.[16]

International career

Gnonto represented Italy at under-17 level in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

In May 2022, after being called by Roberto Mancini to join a training camp for the Italy national team, Gnonto was included in the final 30-player Azzurri squad for the 2022 Finalissima.[17][18] On 4 June 2022, Gnonto made his senior debut for Italy in a UEFA Nations League game against Germany, coming on as a substitute and providing an assist in a 1–1 home draw.[19] On 14 June, in Italy's fourth group match, he scored his first international goal in a 5–2 away loss to Germany, to become the youngest goalscorer for Italy, aged 18 years and 222 days, breaking the previous record held by Bruno Nicolè since 1958.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 26 August 2023[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Zürich II 2020–21 Swiss Promotion League 32———2[lower-alpha 3]153
Zürich 2020–21 Swiss Super League 26100———261
2021–22 Swiss Super League 33832———3610
2022–23 Swiss Super League 6010—5[lower-alpha 4]1—121
Total 65942—51—7412
Leeds United U21 2022–23 —————2[lower-alpha 5]020
Leeds United 2022–23 Premier League 2423210——284
2023–24 Championship 210000——21
Total 2633210——305
Career total 94147410514111120
  1. Includes Swiss Cup, FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in Swiss Promotion League relegation play-offs
  4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds
  5. Appearances in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 12 September 2023[22]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Italy 202281
202350
Total131
Italy score listed first, score column indicates score after each Gnonto goal.[22]
List of international goals scored by Wilfried Gnonto
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 14 June 2022Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach, Germany4 Germany1–52–52022–23 UEFA Nations League A

Honours

Zürich[21]

References
  1. Russo, Gabriele (5 June 2022). "L'Italia si innamora di Gnonto. E' di Baveno la nuova promessa azzurra". RaiNews (in Italian). Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  2. Tomaselli, Paolo (6 June 2022). "Il papà di Gnonto: "Libri e oratorio, non ha né fidanzata né patente: vi racconto Willy"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  3. "Der Stadtclub verpflichtet Nachwuchs-Stürmer Wilfried Gnonto". FC Zürich.
  4. "Vaduz vs. Zürich - 24 October 2020 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com.
  5. "Der FCZ gewinnt gegen den FC Vaduz mit 4:1" (in German). FC Zürich. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  6. "FC Zurich beats FC Basel 2-0 and is crowned Swiss champion". FC Zürich. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  7. "Leeds United complete deadline day deal for Wilfried Gnonto". Leeds United. 2 September 2022.
  8. Rose, Gary (29 October 2022). "Liverpool 1–2 Leeds United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  9. Johnston, Neil (2022-11-05). "Leeds United 4–3 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  10. Stone, Simon (4 January 2023). "Leeds 2-2 West Ham: Hammers remain in relegation trouble after Elland Road draw". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  11. Taylor, Louise (18 January 2023). "Gnonto and Bamford double up as Leeds overwhelm Cardiff in FA Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  12. "Sancho earns Man Utd point in thrilling Leeds draw". BBC Sport. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  13. "'SUPERB' LEEDS ACE GNONTO BROKE A PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD VS MANCHESTER UNITED". HITC. 9 February 2023.
  14. Hafez, Shamoon (18 August 2023). "Leeds forward Gnonto submits transfer request". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  15. "Farke gives apologetic Gnonto second chance at Leeds". BBC Sport. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  16. "Leeds end Ipswich's perfect start with first win". BBC Sport. 26 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  17. "Diramata dal Ct Mancini la lista dei calciatori per la 'Finalissima'" (in Italian). FIGC.it. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  18. "Wilfried Gnonto, chi è la nuova scommessa di Roberto Mancini" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  19. "Italia-Germania 1-1: Kimmich risponde a Pellegrini, esordio con assist per Gnonto" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 4 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  20. "Five-star Germany crush Italy to snap winless run". Reuters. 14 June 2022.
  21. Wilfried Gnonto at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  22. "Gnonto, Wilfried" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
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