‘I wasn’t happy’ – Gnonto on Leeds United’s absence and the dressing room interventions behind the comeback

Sitting at home, alone with his thoughts, Wilfried Gnonto’s mind turned to what he could achieve with Leeds United in May. As the then 19-year-old considered his options, die-hard fans were telling him never to return after he refused to play for Birmingham City in August.

Gnonto impressed and caught the eye against Championship defense Cardiff City on the opening day, but the illusion that he wanted to bring Leeds back up the table was shattered not long after. The youngster’s representatives opted for the nuclear option, with formal transfer requests being emailed to chairman Paraag Marathe and journalists simultaneously.

Gnonto would miss three games before Daniel Farke drew a line on the matter before traveling to Portman Road. The manager was pleased with Gnonto’s apology and looked to give him a second chance as one of the most dangerous strikers in the second tier.

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Now, more than eight months later, he is likely to start for United in a showpiece final at Wembley. It was quite a change in his fortunes.

“I remember back in August thinking about these types of moments to myself,” he said LeedsLive. “I was a bit down, but that was my motivation. At the beginning of the season, I was thinking about what could have been at the end of the season.

“To be in this situation now, in this position, it’s just amazing. I just want to give myself and the team the reward we deserve.”

Farke handled the Gnonto issue as sensitively as a manager might publicly navigate a paid employee on strike. Leeds had no intention of selling their asset, nor was Farke softening his position behind the scenes.

Once Gnonto showed some resentment and convinced Farke that he was ready to return to the fold, the German reminded the media of the youngster’s age, naivety and the plain truth that there would be no third chance. Farke’s belief and that of several key voices in the dressing room meant a lot to Gnonto.

“It’s very important for a player to feel that someone believes in you and I feel like the manager has been like that with everyone, to be fair,” he said. “It was fair enough.

“Everybody had chances. At some point I probably need someone to come along and be honest. When we talk about different people, the coach, for example, Stuart Dallas and Coops (Liam Cooper) and Cree (Summerville), Glen (Kamara), so many players came to me and really helped me a lot.

“I feel like in my confidence, you can see (it) because I’m pretty confident as a person, but you have different moments throughout the season. And at different times when I didn’t feel that confidence, I’m very grateful for everyone on this team.

“I just want to achieve our goal and keep going and see what happens in the future.”

He added: “I know the qualities I have. I know we have a lot of incredible players on the team, but I know I can be one of them. So of course I want to play my part.

“I feel like at certain times this season, I could have done more and I wasn’t happy with what I was doing. I just wanted to change my season a little bit and I feel like from that moment on I did it.”

Eight goals in his last 19 appearances showed a much better second half this season for Gnonto. Now he can only hope to come full circle and perhaps regain the ultimate trust of United fans with the ultimate prize.