Leeds United are using Southampton’s £53million sale of Romeo Lavia to Chelsea as a benchmark for how they handle the possible sale of Willy Gnonto this month.
The vast majority of the discussion at the moment with Leeds’ transfer business is how they handle the constant refusal to play from Willy Gnonto.
He has not featured for the club since that opening game against Cardiff City, since being subject to a club statement, while handing in a transfer request to the club in the hours before the West Brom clash last week.
Will he join Everton?
Of the clubs that have been linked with the Italian international, it’s Everton that seem the most likely destination for him, if Leeds end up selling at any point.
The Athletic have confirmed that the most recent bid for the 19-year-old amounts to £25million all in, with add-ons making up the final part of that fee, a bid that Leeds have no intention of accepting it seems.
How much are Leeds asking for?
Phil Hay has also added to this, claiming that Leeds’ stance on the matter is actually being strongly dictated by business elsewhere in the Championship.
Southampton managed to bring in an initial fee of £53million for midfielder Romeo Lavia this summer from Chelsea, and Leeds’ valuation of the Italian follows a similar trend:
“For one thing, the strongest interest in Gnonto has come from Everton but none of their offers have been high enough to tempt Leeds’ hierarchy to take the money.
“The largest bid yet was a total package worth £25million, a big increase on the fee Leeds paid to Zurich for him but not a sum they see as market value. United took note of Romeo Lavia leaving Southampton for Chelsea for an initial £53million, a year after he switched to the south coast from Manchester City.
“While Lavia started more games in the Premier League than Gnonto, he has a total of 29 top-flight appearances to Gnonto’s 25, Gnonto has the added credentials of being a full Italy international.”
Southampton have set a very impressive precedent for the amount of money they have commanded for their players to leave this summer.
It’s good to see that they aren’t being held to ransom by a player wanting to leave and a club wanting to sign them.
I don’t see us getting close to the fee they got from Chelsea for Lavia, but it’s a stance that we need to adopt, that he doesn’t leave until we get the asking price, and not a penny less.
