West Ham likely to acquire Leeds’ most disruptive influence in January

Daniel Farke might be feeling mightily pleased with himself this morning, after it was revealed that his squad’s most disruptive influence is likely to be signed by West Ham in the current transfer window.

Willy Gnonto has had his moments in a white shirt but they’ve been few and far between, and he’ll surely be remembered more for going on strike at the start of the season when trying to force through a move to Everton, per Metro.

? EXCL. ???????? And now… #LeedsUnited’s also pushing!

?? #LUFC expecting a (likely) sale of Wilfried Gnonto to West Ham United before the end of the window pointed out the name of… Manuel Benson as a priority target as a replacement.

?? Case open and still moving until the end… pic.twitter.com/nhBhKYpPJu

— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) January 18, 2024

According to Sacha Tavolieri, writing on X (formerly Twitter), the all whites are already looking for a replacement for the 20-year-old, and they’ve settled on Burnley’s Manuel Benson.

Given that David Moyes would appear to be a stickler for discipline, one has to question the merits of signing a player that clearly thinks nothing of upsetting dressing room equilibrium.

Not to mention how poor he’s been on the pitch too. According to WhoScored, he has one goal in 23 games in all competitions, and one assist. Hardly likely to have the opposition quaking in their boots is it…

Perhaps Financial Fair Play concerns is what has seen the Hammers operate in certain areas of the market place, the top-end transfers being out of their reach at this point in time.

The deal isn’t over the line yet, though anyone connected with Leeds will surely hope it concludes soon.