As our search for another striker seemed to be ending in farce as the minutes towards the transfer deadline ticked by, Leeds finally managed to secure the signing of 18 year old Italian international Willy Gnonto.
Up until yesterday most of us were pretty satisfied with the club’s business the summer transfer window so far. As much as it was a wrench to lost Raphinha and Phillips, they both went for big fees, and every penny received has been re-invested in strengthening the squad, which now has far more strength in depth.
But there was one more piece of reshaping to be done to give Marsch’s squad a better balance than the one he inherited. Another striker was needed to cover for Patrick Bamford’s all too frequent absences, and if necessary we could sacrifice one of our surfeit of wingers to be able to achieve this extra signing.
Of course, we didn’t intentionally leave this deal to the final day, and several weeks ago we set our sights on Belgian international Charles De Ketelaere, only for his desire for Champions League football to lead the player to sign for AC Milan. And this was despite Leeds offering Club Brugge a bigger transfer fee than the Italians.
So our attention shifted to Cody Gakpo, who has already scored 7 goals this season. Victor Orta flew to Holland just before deadline day in an effort to seal the deal, but the player opted to stay at PSV for the time being. This was apparently after taking advice from Dutch national team boss Louis van Gaal, who didn’t want the player to have to adjust to a new league just before the world cup.
But that didn’t seemed to matter 24 hours later, when it seemed that we were on the verge of signing Senegalese striker Bamba Dieng. We had agreed a fee of €10 million with Marseille, personal terms were thought to be unlikely to be a problem, and the player was at the airport, ready to board a flight to Leeds.
But then it apparently got hijacked. Not the flight, as he never got on the plane, but the deal, as he suddenly decided to accept an alternative offer from Nice. And there are conflicting theories as to why he made that choice. Victor Orta told Sky Sports "I respect the decision of the player. I don’t know how his mind changed. Perhaps it’s a comfort zone, ‘I live in Marseille, I can go to Nice, it’s 20 kilometres from my house instead of starting a new life in a new country.”
But in the deadline day studio the Sky pundits had a story that Leeds weren’t sure if the club would be able to complete a proper medical before the deadline, so asked Dieng to catch an earlier flight. That was enough to give the player second thoughts as he knew that might be an issue, and once he did get to have a medical at Nice he failed it!
So he ended up back where he started at Marseille. It’s still possible that Dieng could get his move to Nice on loan if his knee problem is sorted out, as the French rules allow clubs to make one ‘joker’ loan deal between windows, but only from another French club. Leeds have signed one or two jokers over the years, but thankfully we didn’t get landed with this one.
Meanwhile, Dan James had set off for Fulham to complete a loan move for the rest of the season, in search of the game time he needed to make sure he makes the Welsh squad for the world cup. Leeds decided not to try to recall him as he sped down the motorway, even though it now looked as though the squad would be one short in the attacking department.
But then we finally managed to get a deal over the line right at the last minute, in the shape of Willy Gnonto from FC Zurich, for a fee described as ‘undisclosed’ by the club’s official website and ‘€4.5m plus add-ons’ by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano. Leeds had been monitoring the young striker for some time, but thought of him as one for the future, with the intention of making a move in January.
So did we bring forward the move in a bit of a panic, with a desperate to provide a bit of cover up front and to save face after a farcical last day of the window? Or is it a shrewd piece of business to sign a striker who is ready to make an impact right away, despite his youth? He certainly will have been coached to a high standard, being a product of Inter Milan's academy before moving to Zurich in 2020.
He made 74 appearances in all competitions for the Swiss champions and has played four times for Italy, becoming the youngest goalscorer in the history of his national team when he scored against Germany in June. And of course he was making all the right noises when he spoke to the club’s official website.
"I’m very happy to be here, this is a great club. Leeds United is an incredible club with a great history. The way Leeds play is incredible and I hope I can fit well, it’s a game with a lot of power and speed which is good for me because I am this type of player. I know I have a lot to improve and at Leeds I think I can develop myself and become a better player.”
That last sentence betrays a lack of confidence that he’s quite ready to make an impact at Premier League level, despite being a full international already, but he will probably be thrust onto the field sooner rather than later if Bamford’s legs can’t last the full 90 minutes. We might get to see him as early as tomorrow’s game at Brentford, so let’s hope he can prove that our deadline day had a happy ending after all.