Leeds: Whites could have signed a bigger talent than Gnonto who’s now worth £47.5m
The Elland Road outfit were keen to sign a current Premier League star at the age of just 16..
It is fair to say that it hasn’t been a perfect start to life back in the Championship for Leeds United, although if Saturday’s convincing win over Watford is anything to go by, manager Daniel Farke could be assembling a team that is ready to fight it out for promotion.
Despite having lost a raft of first-team assets, the Whites’ new faces are beginning to click into gear, with £10m arrival Joel Piroe – who scored 41 league goals across the last two seasons for Swansea City – having already netted four times for his new side.
The towering Dutchman looks to have emerged as the centrepiece of what is an exciting attacking unit at Elland Road, with club-record capture Georginio Rutter finally beginning to prove his worth with a mesmerising display through the middle.
At the time, Johnson was enjoying a profitable loan spell in the third tier with Lincoln City, as he scored 13 goals and contributed 14 assists in just 49 games during the 2020/21 campaign, having also been handed his senior international debut in that same season.
The forward continued to catch the eye of Orta and co after returning to his parent club for the following campaign, eventually playing a crucial role in Forest’s promotion push after bagging 18 goals and registering nine assists in the Championship in 2021/22.
That sparkling form led to reports heading into the 2022 summer window which suggested that Leeds would be in the mix for his signature if they were to stave off relegation, albeit with the youngster ultimately staying put in Nottingham regardless.
With there having evidently been a string of missed opportunities for the Yorkshire outfit with regard to signing Johnson, it looks as if their hopes of snapping up the wing wizard may have now come and gone.
What is Brennan Johnson worth now?
While still just 22, the “frightening” talent – as hailed by international colleague, Joe Allen – has already proven his credentials in the Premier League, having scored eight goals and registered three assists in the top flight last season for Steve Cooper’s side.
That impressive haul is beyond what young Gnonto managed to achieve in his debut campaign in England, with the former Zurich speedster scoring just twice and registering four assists in total last term.
| Highest value Leeds players (as per CIES Football Observatory) | |
|---|---|
| Player | Value |
| Wilfried Gnonto | £35m |
| Illan Meslier | £26m |
| Georginio Rutter | £17m |
| Pascal Struijk | £17m |
| Crysencio Summerville | £17m |
| Joel Piroe | £13m |
Both figures who can operate all across the frontline, Johnson also illustrated his creative quality as he laid on four big chances in the league in 2022/23, again ahead of what the current Leeds man achieved (three big chances).
Having played such a vital role in steering the Garibaldi to safety – while Leeds, by contrast, slipped to relegation – Johnson was unsurprisingly the subject of intense interest throughout the summer, with Brentford having been particularly keen to sign the 21-cap ace.
As it proved, it was Tottenham Hotspur who ultimately won the race for his signature on deadline day, with Daniel Levy forking out a sizeable sum of around £47.5m in order to bring the forward to Elland Road.
That hefty figure is likely to have been far higher than the fee that Leeds would have had to pay to sign Johnson as a 16-year-old, hence the potential frustration at having missed out on such “a beautiful footballer” – as described by journalist Josh Bunting.
How good is Brennan Johnson?
The £70k-per-week speedster has so far featured just twice for his new club since his arrival in north London late in the day, albeit while producing a ‘lively’ first start against rivals Arsenal at the weekend – according to the Independent’s Jamie Braidwood.
That outing saw the former Forest man notably go close to getting off the mark for Spurs only to see an effort expertly denied by the sprawling David Raya, albeit with it having been a positive sign of things to come under the tutelage of Ange Postecoglou.
As Wales boss Robert Page has previously stated, Johnson is “arguably one of the best counter-attacking centre-forwards in the Premier League at this moment in time”, having proven himself to be a truly “unbelievable asset” for both club and country of late.
With comparisons having already been made between himself and compatriot, Gareth Bale, the sky really is the limit for the Nottingham native, with Leeds left to reflect on a case of what might have been had Orta and co acted more astutely.
Of course, those at Elland Road do have the dazzling Gnonto to provide a devastating threat from the flanks, although it remains to be seen how long the diminutive dynamo will be at the club, having itched for an exit over the summer.
In truth, despite all the excitement surrounding the Italian, the contrasting record between himself and Johnson in the Premier League last year would suggest that it is the latter man who is arguably the bigger talent.
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