Leeds United have allowed Willy Gnonto to join Fiorentina on loan until the ned of the season as they work on the final details of Jean-Matteo Bahoya.

Fiorentina have the option to buy the Italy international in a deal that could end up costing them £18m in total.

Gnonto's departure is a sign that Leeds are confident of signing Eintracht Frankfurt winger Bahoya, who Yorkshire rivals Hull City had agreed a fee for.

Leeds paid bargain £3.9m for Gnonto in August 2022 and have had 147 appearances and 23 goals out of him.

LOANED OUT: Willy Gnonto (right) (Image: Paul Faith / AFP via Getty Images)

placeholder image — LOANED OUT: Willy Gnonto (right) (Image: Paul Faith / AFP via Getty Images)

But under Daniel Farke the diminutive forward has struggled to establish himself as a regular starter, with his 126 league games split equally between starts and substitute appearances.

Gnonto had an early fall-out with Farke when he requested a transfer right at the start of the German's first season in charge, but Leeds refused to sell to Everton and Gnonto reacted professionally.

Gnotno has 29 caps for Italy, where he has sometimes played at centre-forward, but at club level his diminutive stature means he has almost exclusively been used as a wide attacker, or in Farke's now-preferred 4-2-3-1 an inside-forward or occasionally wing-back.

French under-21 international Bahoya is a left winger or attacking midfielder.