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Leeds United confirmed a major piece of post-deadline day business on Saturday
Ex-Tottenham Hotspur & Aston Villa star Darren Bent has hailed Leeds United for securing a new contract for star forward Willy Gnonto. The summer transfer window saw a number of players leave Elland Road with the likes of Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter all departing on big-money deals.
Gnonto was strongly linked with a move away from West Yorkshire 12 months ago after being pursued by Everton and the Italian even handed in a transfer request in a bid to force through a Premier League move. However, he later withdrew that request after talks with manager Daniel Farke and quickly re-established his importance within the squad. That importance has only been heightened this summer with Summerville and Rutter departing from the Whites forward line.
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The 20-year-old’s previous deal was set to expire in the summer of 2027 but his new contract will see him remain at Leeds for an extra 12 months and in news that will reassure fans the YEP can confirm that the new deal contains no exit clauses. He first arrived on deadline day in the summer of 2022, after a £4m deal was agreed with Swiss side FC Zurich.
Bent feels that Leeds have the quality to push for promotion yet again after reaching the Championship play-off final last season and he hailed Gnonto’s new deal as ‘big’ following some of the departures from the club over the summer.
“Now they’ve got the players that have left out of their systems, I know for Leeds fans, Archie Gray, that was the one that hurt the most. [Crysencio] Summerville leaving, Gnonto signing a new contract by the way - that’s big,” said Bent on talkSPORT.
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“But I just think with Leeds if they can continually pick up results with the squad that they’ve got, I’m not saying they’ve got one of the best squads in the Championship but certainly they’ve got quality and they can certainly have a push.”
Leeds sit fourth in the table after four matches after drawing two and winning two of their opening fixtures. Only Watford, West Brom and Sunderland have a better record so far with the Black Cats topping the table as they only side to win all of their matches. Blackburn are level on points with Leeds but the Whites have a better goal difference after three-straight clean sheets.
Leeds face a crunch next two months as they host Burnley in their first game after the international break while they travel to Cardiff City before welcoming Coventry City to Elland Road before the end of the month. In October Farke’s side face back-to-back away games against Norwich City and Sunderland before home games with Sheffield United and Watford after the October international break in a run of games that will certainly test the Whites’ promotion credentials.