Leeds United fans wouldn’t have been overly impressed with their defensive display on the opening day of the Championship season, leaking three goals to a newly promoted Portsmouth side who wouldn’t have believed their luck.
The likes of Ilian Meslier and Jayden Bogle really struggled for Daniel Farke’s men, as Meslier made just one save in between the sticks all afternoon in the barnstorming 3-3 contest.
The mood around Elland Road can't have been helped this summer by an array of names linked with an exit. That includes one of Saturday afternoon's goalscorers.
The latest on Willy Gnonto's future
Wilfried Gnonto has been the subject of much discussion at Leeds United this summer and when he scored against Pompey last weekend, there must have been fears over the attention his strike would receive.
So, will he leave or will he not? The latest is that Everton are still interested in the winger. TEAMtalk reported last week that a deal is 'not dead' yet despite the Toffees' latest advancement of £23m being knocked back by the Elland Road outfit.
Gnonto is open to moving to Goodison Park, but unlike last summer, won't push for an exit.
While Gnonto's future remains unsolved, the future of another Leeds star looks more cut and dry.
Max Wober’s time at Leeds
Maximilian Wober wouldn’t be the most disastrous body to lose from the building this summer, with the Austrian centre-back not exactly in the good books at Elland Road.
The 26-year-old, who once cost the Whites a hefty £11m to win his services from RB Salzburg, has only made 19 appearances in total for the West Yorkshire side, having jumped ship to the Bundesliga last campaign in the midst of the club’s relegation aftermath.
Even when he was performing week in week out for Leeds, before his loan departure to Borussia Monchengladbach, it’s not as if Wober was setting the world alight, with only two clean sheets collected from his 16 top-flight clashes.
Farke and Co will presumably be glad to see the back of the expensive dud if he does finally walk away for good before the close of the month, with reports now suggesting that he could leave permanently, according to Football Insider.
It had been expected that the Austria international would attempt to get his topsy-turvy time at Elland Road back on track, but it’s now pointing in the direction of him leaving the building after Wober was an unused substitute versus Pompey.
Away from his lacklustre performances for Leeds, which even saw football journalist Douglas Critchley label him as ‘shocking’ at one point, the second-tier promotion hopefuls will also want to get rid of the 26-year-old soon owing to his high wage, which means he is currently earning more than Gnonto remarkably.
Max Wober’s wage at Leeds
As per Capology, the ex-Salzburg defender earns £35k per week currently, which means he only falls short of top earners Patrick Bamford and Georginio Rutter by £35k per week.
Amazingly, however, Gnonto earns £5k per week less in the Whites camp at this moment in time at a £30k per week salary, despite the Italian attacker finding the back of the net against Pompey, on top of being a wanted target by many a Premier League suitor.
Glancing at the table below, Wober’s extortionate pay packet only puts him £15k per week off breaking into the top five highest earners in West Yorkshire at this moment in time, further reinforcing the demand to get him off the wage bill sooner rather than later.
1. Georginio Rutter
£70k
2. Patrick Bamford
£70k
3. Junior Firpo
£60k
4. Dan James
£50k
5. Pascal Struijk
£50k
6. Brenden Aaronson
£45k
7. Ethan Ampadu
£40k
8. Max Wober
£35k
Of course, other players who were chucked out on loan after the club’s demise to the second tier have come back and made a name for themselves again away from Wober remaining on the fringes, as seen in Brenden Aaronson scoring at the death on the opening day to help his team salvage a draw.
But, in this case, it feels as if the best possible outcome for all parties is for the ties to be severed once and for all, as Leeds go on the hunt for more new defensive recruits to improve on the expensive defender.
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