Transfer trouble for Leeds with ‘no way’ to stop Farke favourite’s inevitable €40m exit

Crysencio Summerville is on a trajectory that will see him snapped up by an elite club in the summer, with Leeds United and Daniel Farke having “no way” of stopping his inevitable Elland Road exit.

That is the view of a respected Dutch reporter, who believes the winger should cost “around €40million” amid interest from Chelsea.

After Leeds‘ relegation from the Premier League last season, Summerville has emerged as the club’s star player under Farke this term, registering 16 goals and nine assists in all competitions.

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The 22-year-old’s crucial contributions have helped fire Leeds to the top of the Championship, with the Whites currently top of the table – ahead of Leicester City on goal difference and a point in front of third-placed Ipswich Town – with eight matches of the regular season remaining.

Summerville’s performances have seen him linked with a move away from Leeds, with TEAMtalk exclusively reporting earlier this month that the winger has emerged as a potential target for Chelsea, whose scouts have kept a close eye on his development this season.

Although Summerville is believed to be happy at Leeds, having committed to staying at the club in the aftermath of relegation last May amid interest from Burnley, TEAMtalk sources have suggested there is a good chance that he could leave this summer if a top club comes calling.

Poised to enter the final two years of his current contract in the summer, Summerville is nearing a delicate stage of his Leeds career.

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And Suleyman Ozturk, the editor of Dutch football magazine Voetbal International, believes it is inevitable that Summerville will be at a top club as soon as next season having “developed fantastically” with Leeds in the Championship.

He said: “He is one of the best forwards in the Championship. From next season we will see him at a top club.

“He is going to make a transfer, there is no other way.

“I would like to see him at a higher level. He has developed fantastically over the past six months. He is fast and good on the outside, but also as a number ten.

“I think he should cost around €40m.”

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Leeds’ hopes of hanging on to Summerville – as well as other key players including Georginio Rutter, Wilfried Gnonto and Illan Meslier – are likely to hinge on the club’s ability to regain their Premier League status at the first time of asking.

There is a widespread acceptance that second season in the Championship would force Farke to sell some of his stars to ensure Leeds remain within the limits of the EFL’s financial rules.

Summerville arrived at Leeds from Feyenoord as an 18-year-old in the summer of 2020, bursting on to the scene last season by scoring an 89th-minute winner over Liverpool – famously the only Premier League game Virgil van Dijk has lost at Anfield since arriving at Liverpool from Southampton in January 2018.

Summerville followed that up seven days later with another late winner to cap Leeds’ remarkable 4-3 comeback against Bournemouth before emerging as Farke’s most important player in the Championship this season.

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