Leeds United made it an astounding seven victories in a row in the Championship on Tuesday night versus Swansea City, the long-winded trip to Wales made worthwhile by the Whites cruising to a 4-0 win.
Unsurprisingly, Crysencio Summerville bagged yet another goal for Daniel Farke's men against a leaky Swans side, but it was his partner on the opposite flank in Wilfried Gnonto who proved his worth again for the promotion-chasers in this one.
Bagging a brace – with his second goal on the night a coolly taken strike after a swift Leeds counter-attack – Gnonto sticking around at Elland Road instead of leaving this January could prove to be crucial for the West Yorkshire titans in their bid to win automatic promotion.
Signed for a price that now looks like a steal back in 2022, the tricky Italian forward will hope to fire Leeds to promotion back up to the Premier League before any more transfer talk surrounding him comes back up again.
Wilfried Gnonto's transfer value when signing for Leeds
Leeds pulled off a bargain by managing to land Gnonto for just £3.8m two years ago, a masterful bit of business pulled off by Victor Orta when he was still pulling the strings at Elland Road.
Bagging goals for fun playing in the Inter Milan youth set-up before spreading his wings to join FC Zurich – scoring 14 times for the Italian giants in total as a teenager – Leeds did take a punt at the time gambling on the young prospect plying his trade in Switzerland.
Yet, it's a gamble that has worked with Gnonto even being touted for a move away to Everton at one point for a much higher price than the £3.8m the Whites paid at a jaw-dropping £25m.
Putting any bad blood behind him regarding the fact that he was unhappy at not being allowed to move on to a Premier League suitor, the 20-year-old – who was once referred to as a "diamond" by football scout Jacek Kulig – now has four goals in his last four games for Leeds to allow Farke's men to forget Daniel James' absence from the XI.
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When the time does come that Leeds might look to sell Gnonto on, they will be making a handsome profit on the skilful forward who has seen his transfer value soar off the back of his many heroics in West Yorkshire – thus proving one rare masterstroke of the Orta regime.
Wilfried Gnonto's transfer value in 2024
Gnonto was one silver lining from the dreadful relegation campaign Leeds endured last season, helping himself to two goals and four assists overall which included a strike away at Old Trafford in a 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
Now, with his importance being elevated in recent weeks with James out of action, Gnonto keeps bumping up his transfer value to make Leeds feel more and more smug about not offloading their once wantaway gem.
According to Football Transfers, Gnonto's value is now at an impressive €21.1m (£18m) which sees him become more of a prized asset for Leeds than Summerville, who is valued at a lesser €9.9m (£8.4m).
Farke will love the strength in depth he has at his disposal currently in attack, knowing that he can rely on Gnonto to be a nuisance going forward even when James is missing.
James did come on against Swansea to replace Gnonto in Wales, but the German boss in the Whites dug-out won't completely chuck the revitalised 20-year-old onto the periphery for good.
Rather, he'll see it as healthy competition for places with Gnonto turning around his Leeds career when at one point he was even refusing to play earlier in the season.
