Gnonto tips on comeback, Leeds United’s first strikes and a transfer hill Farke won’t die on

Goals and assists before the end of August will help the process but, until then, Brenden Aaronson just needs to speak to Wilfried Gnonto for advice on redeeming Leeds United. The 23-year-old is one of nine players currently in line to return to Thorp Arch after his loan spell ended last season.

Aaronson was expected to be one of the nine to make his short return, if indeed he ever made it through the practice field gates. Loan spells end and parent-club contracts continue, but summers are a strange time for players who are told to endlessly delay their return or train elsewhere.

Some managers don’t want the neat chemistry of their dressing room or training complex soured by players outside their plans. While the wait continues to see when or if Diego Llorente, Rasmus Kristensen or Max Wober return to West Yorkshire this summer, we now know Aaronson most certainly will.

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As first reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, the American has already got his foot in the door and spoken to Farke. After a mixed away campaign in the Bundesliga, where Union Berlin avoided relegation, Aaronson was given the opportunity to stay in the German capital or pursue other avenues on the continent.

Instead, with three years left on the contract he signed last year, Aaronson wants to rejoin a team that is one whisker away from a top-flight comeback. A desire to return to Leeds in the Premier League would have made it virtually impossible for Aaronson to win over the cynics, but some fans will at least put some measure in his return for Championship football.

What Aaronson wants is quite academic. Farke’s view of this situation is critical. His power within the club, as manager rather than head coach, gives him the final say on anything involving the playing squad.

Farke owes Aaronson nothing. The striker’s arrival predates the German’s and his loan exit was confirmed five days after Farke came in on one of those pesky loan clauses.

If Aaronson turns up for pre-season training and looks to get the Whites back into the top flight, it is because Farke believes there is potential to work with. The manager has unflatteringly described returning loans as as appetizing as microwave leftovers in the past, but perhaps that’s not a hill he wants to die on this summer.

Even before we get into the possible exits in the upcoming transfer window, there is a clear need in this squad as it is for a central attacking midfielder. Whatever you think of Aaronson’s quality, he can play behind a centre-forward and in the second tier there will be hopes he can make a much bigger impact than he has in the Premier League.

If Farke wanted to make an example of Aaronson, to point out what’s next for the returnees, it could create more work for himself and the recruiting department. It would require another loan, covering a sizeable proportion of Aaronson’s wages, or a sale that almost certainly fails to break even on United’s initial outlay.

Once these bridges were crossed, it would be a small matter of getting out to find another creative option in the final third. Throw in the potential sales of Crysencio Summerville and Gnonto and there is even more work to be done in the transfer market for attackers.

Aaronson obviously made the right noises, as Gnonto did at the end of last August, to convince Farke that he has something to work with from next month. Goals, assists, hard work, staying upright and taking a few early shots should see them all on a new foot come September.