Predicting Leeds United's 2 next biggest money departures ft Willy Gnonto | OneFootball

FLW outline two of the players who are likely to bring Leeds United some money next summer if they fail to gain promotion.

Leeds United made eight new additions to their squad during the summer transfer window, with the Whites looking to go one better than last season under Daniel Farke and gain promotion back to the Premier League.

He will hope that, after losing key personnel, Leeds will still have the required depth, quality, and output in their ranks to mount another promotion push. Archie Gray, Glen Kamara, Georginio Rutter, and Crysencio Summerville have all left the club as vital pieces of last year's team.

In part, that was necessary, with parachute payments halved in their second year, and reports emerging earlier in the summer that they may have to generate around £100 million in transfer fees to help balance the books, meaning that they had been in need of some sales.

Leeds have added quality and experience, but also have a fairly streamlined squad of 23 first-team players, having had a thorough pruning of the squad in many ways this summer. There were far more players in the outgoings column compared to the incomings.

Joe Rodon, Alex Cairns, Joe Rothwell, and Jayden Bogle were signed early on in the window, but there was a long gap between those signing and Leeds' final four additions, which had some fans concerned up until the deadline. They ended the last week of the window well with four further signings, with Manor Solomon, Largie Ramazani, Ao Tanaka, and Isaac Schmidt bolstering their ranks to hopefully give Farke the required reinforcements before the transfer window came to a close.

The objective now, as always, this season is to gain promotion to the Premier League and there will be real disappointment if the club fail to do so this time around. However, should they fail to do so, they have some high-quality assets that could be sold next summer.

Many of the fundamental pieces of Farke's side this season won't be sticking around for a third promotion push.

But who are the two most likely to be sold next to bring in serious money for Leeds should they fail to gain promotion? We take a look, here.

Willy Gnonto

Willy Gnonto's experience at the age of just 20 is what makes him have such a high ceiling and is why Everton made bids so frequently to try and capture his services for two summers in a row. Leeds reportedly rejected a £23 million offer from Everton this summer, according to a report from Graham Smyth of The Yorkshire Evening Post.

It was reported during the end of the window that Leeds were not prepared to let Gnonto leave Elland Road before the summer transfer window closed, as per Give Me Sport, who believe the Whites won't sanction a sale because Farke feels a potential promotion push could be derailed if the Italian departed.

Leeds Live added that, after it became clear that he would not be leaving last summer, he acted professionally, earned back the trust and respect of the squad members, coaches, and supporters, and has not tested Farke's warning of there being no third chance for him.

Gnonto had plenty of interest, but losing Summerville and Rutter, whilst adding a player such as Ramazani may see his importance grow this season with other wide players alongside him. He could form a devastating forward line with the Belgian or Solomon on the opposing flank, with Brenden Aaronson through the middle.

It was paramount that Leeds didn't sell themselves short in terms of quality attacking players to give them the required attacking thrust. Gnonto could be a key cog in Leeds' new-look attacking unit, as they look to rebuild this season in attack. His X-factor and match-winning capabilities are why he is one of the club's best players and biggest assets.

Even though he has penned a new contract since the close of the window, it's a near-certainty that it will be his last season with the club if they fail to gain promotion. The Italian's ceiling is so high and he should reach more of that potential this term. The silver lining is that Leeds can make a huge profit on the former FC Zürich forward, though.

Ethan Ampadu

If Leeds can keep a core of a team together, then they are likely to be strong again under Farke. Ampadu was one of the best signings in the Championship last season, having established himself as a key player after joining from Chelsea.

So much so, that the Welshman wore the armband on 23 occasions in 2023/24 and has become one of the key leadership figures within the Elland Road dressing room. He has also been named as club captain based on those performances, which is an immense achievement for someone who only recently turned 24.

Leeds signed Ampadu last summer for a fee rising to £10 million with add-ons, but he has been nothing short of outstanding and Leeds got themselves a bargain when they paid an initial fee of just £7 million which could rise to the upper limit with performance-related add-ons.

He is already arguably the club's best player and the going rate for quality midfielders at second tier level who are young enough to retain a sell-on value is comfortably north of £20 million. Ampadu is only 24 and with a healthy contract as well, so there is no reason Leeds wouldn't want something in the region of that sort of figure or thereabouts for what is undoubtedly one of the best midfielders in the league.

It proved to be a bargain, but not only that, as he has been virtually ever-present last season, having been substituted just once in the league all season, and missing just one of Leeds' 55 games in all competitions when he was rested during a replay in the FA Cup against Plymouth Argyle.

The epitome of consistency, Ampadu has mostly been deployed at the base of midfield and become a pivotal player there. You wouldn't know that he'd played almost every game given the quality, consistency, and relentlessness of his displays. Availability is the best ability but adaptability and dependability aren't far behind, either. He is now a Premier League player in all but name.

This year should be his last one as a Championship player, irrespective of whether Leeds achieve promotion at the second time of asking, but he is vital to the club's success and appears settled and happy in West Yorkshire so far. He is the sort of player and character to build the team around in the long-term, and Leeds will hope that they are able to do that as a Premier League side.