It looked like a tremendous victory for the club that Leeds was able to hang onto the 19-year-old after a summer of persistent rumors.
Gnonto, though, was forced off in the week’s draw against Hull City due to an ankle injury, and manager Daniel Farke said it was a lateral ligament problem.
Leeds were awaiting scan findings even though they were aware of the setback to see just how long the Italian international would be out.
The player’s status was updated on social media by journalist Phil Hay after meeting with Farke, who said that Gnonto would be out for a few more weeks.
Gnonto requires minor surgery, but it won’t be on his torn ligament; it will be on a bone. He won’t be available until after the following international break.
Wilfried Gnonto will miss which games?
Prior to the international break in October, Leeds has three games scheduled, the first of which is a trip to Southampton the following weekend.
The Yorkshire team will play three games in a row starting with this one, with matches against QPR at Elland Road the next week and Bristol City at home on October 7th.
Following that, there will be a two-week hiatus before Leeds plays at Norwich, which may be the match in which Gnonto makes a comeback.
It appears fairly likely that he won’t be called up to the Italian team for their games later this month given his injury which will be a setback for the player who is trying to hold onto his spot in the team until Euro 2024.
How severe is this setback for Leeds?
Since Gnonto was injured, there was speculation that he would be sidelined for a while, you could possibly argue that this is good news for Leeds. Given the initial concerns, it wouldn’t be too horrible if he ended up only missing four games.
It goes without saying that the teenager is a fantastic player at this level, so not having him available is far from ideal, but Leeds actually has a ton of high-caliber options out wide.
Leeds’ dominating 3-0 victory over Watford was evidence of their quality in the final third; Farke replaced Gnonto with Dan James, who contributed two assists.
They also have Jaidon Anthony, who was substituted in and scored, giving Farke a ton of options. By Championship standards, they have impressive depth in those wide spots.
What will Leeds do next?
After a sluggish start, Farke’s team is starting to pick up speed, and the performance against Watford will have pleased the supporters.
Leeds will need to step up and sustain the standards they’ve set in recent games to close the gap to the top two, but everyone associated with the team is enthusiastic about how this season may pan out.
