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When Italy flopped against North Macedonia in the play-offs and were sentenced to miss their second World Cup final in a row, Roberto Mancini vowed to rebuild his team with the next generation of talent.
His search led him to Willy Gnonto, an explosive teenage Inter Milan youth striker who helped FC Zurich win the Swiss title last season and joined Leeds United on the transfer deadline earlier this month.
Gnonto’s £3.8 million move to Elland Road was largely unannounced, overshadowed at the time by the furore of their failed £20 million flight for Bamba Dieng from Marseille and since then by the postponement following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ensuing period of mourning.
Willy Gnonto is an exciting young striker who could play for Italy against England tomorrow
Italy manager Roberto Mancini has vowed to rebuild his side and focus on youth
Still, he’s an exciting asset – a short six-foot-tall player with superior balance and electric speed, akin to a young Raheem Sterling, who can play either side of a striker or as a second striker – and Leeds fans could catch a glimpse from him when England face Italy in Milan tomorrow.
Mancini promoted Gnonto to the Italian squad for the Finalissima game against Argentina at Wembley in June, before making his debut against Germany in the Nations League three days later.
He started the next game, against Hungary, and came on against England in the 64th minute, behind closed doors at Molineux, before scoring in a 5-2 defeat to Germany in Dortmund.
With that, Gnonto became Italy’s youngest goalscorer at 18 years and 222 days, breaking a record that had existed since 1958. He was nominated this year for the Golden Boy prize, a prestigious award established by the Turin newspaper Tuttosport for Europe’s emerging top talent.
Gnonto was down by just over 18 earlier this year. the youngest ever goalscorer of his country
“He is an 18-year-old boy and should not be put under too much pressure,” Mancini said in June.
‘He needs to grow slowly. For his age he knows how to play football like few other players and he is very fast. If he grows quietly, without too much pressure on him, he can show his important qualities and if he is an intelligent boy, he can grow.’
Born in Verbania of Ivorian parents, Gnonto grew up in Baveno, on the shores of Lake Maggiore, where his mother Chantal worked as a waitress in one of the resort’s major hotels for over 20 years.
His talent was apparent from an early age. He joined Inter at eight and made good progress, earning calls for Italy, and was a star of the 2019 World Under-17 Championship in Brazil, scoring three goals.
At the age of 16, he left Inter for Switzerland in search of a clearer path to the first team and went straight to the squad in Zurich, where he made his senior debut before his 17th birthday.
He joined Jesse Marsch’s Leeds side for £3.8m on the day of the transfer deadline this summer
Gnonto has already played several matches for Italy and played against England in Wolves
He scored eight goals in 33 games last season when Zurich won the Swiss Super League and played in the Champions League and Europa League qualifying rounds before moving to Leeds.
“The first time I saw him I thought he had the potential to become an international talent,” Zurich sporting director Marinko Jurendic said. “In the first season he did well and we saw his potential in a team fighting against relegation.
In the second season came the transformation, his evolution under a new coach in a team that performed well. He played mainly as a substitute and became the best substitute in the entire competition. Every time he came into the game, he made a difference by scoring goals and providing assists.
“He has the talent in his body and the strength in his mind to become a great player.
Gnonto scored eight goals in 33 games last season when FC Zurich won the Swiss Super League
He has been labeled “mature as a 25-year-old” by Zurich sporting director Marinko Jurendic.
“In some ways, like a boy, he’s unpredictable. It’s a joy to watch him play. In some ways, he’s matured as a 25-year-old player. It doesn’t matter who he plays against. We have to be patient with him, but he has everything to become a regular base player for the Italian national team.”
Gnonto’s first appearance in his new club’s colors came for Leeds’ Under 21s in a 6-2 win over Southampton, in which Patrick Bamford scored a hat-trick.
“Willy was really good,” Under 21s boss Michael Skubala said after the game. “You see what he can do in possession. He’s new to the way we want to play, so he still has a lot to learn, and he will, but sometimes he was really exciting to watch.”
His strengths match Jesse Marsch’s full-throttle style, but this week Gnonto’s journey takes him back to Milan, where it all began.