New Elland Road favourite puts injury fears to bed after premature Leeds United change

The teenage attacker was substituted at half-time against Spurs and had appeared to be carrying a knock during the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Head coach Jesse Marsch insisted the decision to make a change at the break was purely tactical and Gnonto’s appearance for Italy this week confirms the American’s assessment that no serious injury was sustained in north London.

Gnonto came off the bench as Italy defeated Albania 3-1 in a friendly; one of two fixtures the Azzurri will play this month after Roberto Mancini’s side failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. 19-year-old Gnonto will be expected to feature once more against Austria on November 20 – the same day Qatar and Ecuador kick-off the 2022 World Cup Finals.

“He was really effective coming from the bench against Bournemouth,” Marsch said last weekend. “I think he was also good in this match [vs Spurs]. But when we looked at the fact that we needed to make some tactical changes, we thought that made the most sense to take him off.”

Gnonto played 13 minutes for the Italian side in Albania on Wednesday, earning his seventh cap, as Mancini continues to experiment with a young side. Of the 21 games for club and country this season, spread across his time at FC Zurich as well as Leeds United and their Under-21s, Gnonto has made 11 appearances from the bench, suggesting his coaches still perceive him to be most effective coming on as a substitute in matches.