Georginio Rutter could yet have a future at Leeds United as new footage drops today
Leeds United forward Georginio Rutter has endured a disastrous nine months at Elland Road since his big-money move in January but it showed signs of life after a new footage emerged at the club.
The 21-year-old cost Leeds a club-record fee of up to £36million when joining from Hoffenheim in January [BBC Sport], but he has scored just one goal in 18 appearances.
And his issues as one of the club’s biggest transfers in recent years reared their ugly head again as he endured a torrid afternoon in the 0-0 draw against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (2 September).
However, fast forward a few days and the French youngster was spotted new footage posted by the club on their Twitter account on Thursday (7 September) as he spent a day with the Leeds Children’s Charity at Lineham Farm.
Rutter was all smiles as he spent the day with the children which seemed to suggest that he is certainly bedding into life at West Yorkshire better than people expected, despite his difficult nine months at the club.
Whether his involvement with the Children’s Charity was solely his decision or the clubs, it seems as if Daniel Farke’s talks [Leeds Live, 4 September] with the unsettled striker after the Sheffield Wednesday disappointment has somewhat kicked him back into gear.
Farke revealed after the Sheffield Wednesday draw that he has held talks with Rutter: “I was a striker as well; you can’t really explain.
“Sometimes you have times when you find it unbelievably difficult to use your chances to score, and sometimes you just have to look at the ball and the ball goes in anyhow. It feels a bit like Georginio is in this period.
“But I spoke to him and told him ‘Listen, the solution is not to overthink things too much. When you have a situation, when you find it difficult to bring the ball in the back of the net, then don’t try to be too artificial in your approach.”
Rutter, who had been linked with a move away from Elland Road during the summer window [FR], will be keen to prove that he deserves a place in the side as he looks to fire in the goals to help the club challenge for promotion this season.
However, it simply hasn’t happened for him so far in his career in West Yorkshire with just one goal and an assist in 18 appearances, but Farke’s message to the player certainly suggests he and the club aren’t giving up on him.
In fact, just nine months in a totally different environment just isn’t enough for most players to acclimatise themselves in a new league and setting, so it would be silly for the Whites to give up on their investment so soon.
The two-minute footage posted by Leeds United certainly shows a player enjoying life in West Yorkshire and still determined to take on new challenges but more crucially, improve his fortunes at the club.
Rutter, before his mega move to Elland Road, established himself as one of Germany’s most exciting young forward talents, recording 10 goals and four assists over the last two campaigns in the German Bundesliga.
The incentives were there for Leeds United hierarchy to shell out the cash for his services and there are plenty of examples of players who have made similar moves and struggled to hit the ground running in their first campaigns before going on to excel in time.
It would be deemed an absolute waste if the 49ers were to give up on him now. This new venture with the Leeds charity could well hand Rutter all the encouragement and confidence he needs to become an Elland Road star very soon.
Time is of the essence.
In other Leeds United news, one forward may now just be days away from finally sealing his Elland Road exit with Farke already making his intentions clear.