Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville stay at Leeds United adds ‘remarkable magic’ after expected exits – Graham Smyth
The expectation that Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter would likely leave Leeds United in the summer adds some “remarkable magic” to their form for the club this season, says Graham Smyth.
Speaking on the Inside Elland Road podcast on 31 October the Yorkshire Evening Post journalist said the pair’s “work ethic is fantastic” under Daniel Farke currently as the Whites reap the rewards of both staying at Elland Road during an offseason of upheaval.
The club themselves reportedly expected the Dutchman to look to leave and were willing to let that happen, while clubs in Germany were “offering very good money” to take club-record signing Rutter off their hands, but neither were interested and are now starring in the Championship.
Smyth said (15m 10s): “It certainly feels like [they hold the key to the season] right now. There were no guarantees that either player were going to be here this season, which adds a bit of remarkable magic to it.
“Summerville, the noises we got from the club right at the outset of the summer was that they thought he’ll probably go, he’ll probably want to go, and they’d probably be ok with that, which surprised me at the time…
“But he did stay, and there were no great noises about him departing, which would have been the case had he wanted to because he agent would have made noise… there wasn’t a lot of that at all, in fact the level of it was such that you thought actually a decision’s been made here that he’s going to come back and play this season, which became obvious midway through the summer, especially in contrast to some other players.
“And then you have Rutter, who could not really have been blamed for saying, ‘Actually my four months at Leeds were quite enough thanks you, I’m out of here.’
“And yet there was nothing at all. And he had options as well, there were Bundesliga clubs who were offering very good money to Leeds for him, and a decision was taken collectively that he would stay at Leeds, and look where we are now.”
Outstanding
There was no shortage of first-team players who had absolutely no interest in slogging through a Championship campaign for Leeds United in the summer.
A number of them, particularly Max Wober, Jack Harrison, Tyler Adams and Luis Sinisterra, were ones that the club were very keen to keep hold of but ultimately ended up powerless to prevent leaving.
So for Summerville and Rutter to have emerged from a situation where their departures were thought more likely and more palatable to be spearheading the Whites’ quest for promotion is particularly positive.
Fears have inevitably arisen that struggling Premier League sides might come calling in January thanks to their excellent form.
But in light of the summer situation and the strides they have both made under Farke this season there has to be good reason to believe they are prepared to see out the campaign at least.
In contrast to some of the loanees who are struggling to enhance their reputations and their asking prices the two current star men have surely boosted theirs greatly in the past three months, even in the second tier, but Farke and the fans are bound to prefer their output than their possible fees in the upcoming windows.
In other Leeds United news, a “highly significant” update on one of the stars leaving in January has emerged after three Premier League teams look at move.