Georginio Rutter completed a £40m move to Brighton on Monday evening as the Frenchman became the Seagulls’ club-record signing, having done the same at Leeds United.
The 22-year-old attacker had a hand in 24 goals in 51 games for Leeds last season and that has attracted Brighton. After £29m and £35m bids were rejected by Leeds, Brighton reluctantly chose to pay the £40m.
It saw a clause activated in Rutter’s contract, forcing Leeds to accept the offer. He becomes the biggest sale made by a club in the Championship not relegated from the Premier League the season beforehand.
Leeds confirmed in a statement that they had tried everything to convince France U21 star Rutter to stay at Leeds, but the former Hoffenheim man was sold on a move to Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton outfit.
Beren Cross shares if there are any more Leeds release clauses
Leeds fans have had enough of release clauses. Last summer, eight players jumped ship on loan thanks to a relegation clause included in contracts by Victor Orta, including Max Wober and Brenden Aaronson.
This time around, Jack Harrison and Rasmus Kristensen have gone on loan again as their loan clauses were renewed for a second season. Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville have been sold permanently.
Indeed, their exits were due to release clauses as Tottenham and West Ham paid the required fee to get them out of Leeds. But Leeds Live man Cross told The Square Ball that all other clauses have now expired.
He told The Square Ball: “We are led to believe that all release clauses have expired, those are the noises coming from Leeds. So we’ll see if any players agitate to leave but he’s said none have agitated to leave.”
Which other players could leave Leeds before August 30 deadline
With no release clauses left, it seems The 49ers have finally gained a degree of power over player sales. If Leeds do decide to many any more sales, then fans will become even more disgruntled this summer.
However, there could still be a couple that go. Wilfried Gnonto is the main one, though reports say Leeds are ready to block any approach for Gnonto. Junior Firpo has entered the final 12 months of his contract.
Gladbach’s sporting director hinted at a late move for Max Wober, while Joe Gelhardt may search for a loan given he’s the fourth-choice centre-forward behind Mateo Joseph, Patrick Bamford and Joel Piroe.
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