Leeds United sources say selling player was a ‘blessing in disguise’ due to behaviour behind scenes

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Daniel Farke’s second summer at Leeds United turned into a surprise fire sale of the club’s best players as four key stars were sold by The 49ers in an attempt to balance the books.

Leeds sold eight players in the summer, while those on loan did not sign permanently. Others left at the end of their contracts including the likes of Jamie Shackleton, Liam Cooper and the retiring Stuart Dallas.

But the main departures were a trio of players who left for the Premier League. Crysencio Summerville joined West Ham, while Georginio Rutter went to Brighton and Archie Gray was sold to Tottenham.

Since then, Rutter has been up and down at Brighton while Ally McCoist feels sorry for Gray at Spurs as he continues to play at centre-back. Summerville meanwhile, has only managed one goal for West Ham.

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Leeds sources say Summerville sale was a blessing in disguise

Summerville won the Championship Player of the Season award after having a hand in 29 goals last term. West Ham paid an initial £25m for Summerville, with the potential for Leeds to receive £9m in add-ons.

A figure of £5m is performance-related add-ons, while £4m will be paid in the event that Summerville wins a Netherlands cap. Losing Summerville may have been deemed as a massive blow to those at Leeds.

However, the Mail report that sources within Leeds say that Summerville’s exit was a “blessing in disguise” due to his poor professionalism and commitment behind the scenes at Leeds training centre Thorp Arch.

Have Leeds replaced the loss of Summerville’s goals and assists?

Last season, Leeds often looked towards Summerville and Rutter to pull them out of a hole. Summerville single-handedly won away at Daniel Farke’s old side Norwich, as Leeds came from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

At this point last season, Leeds were in fourth with 48 points and had scored 45. This time around, Leeds have five more points with 53, and have scored four more goals with Farke’s men boasting a total of 48.

Leeds goalscorers after 26 games last season, and this season:

Leeds have more goalscorers this season. Summerville had scored more than any other player at this point last season compared to this, Leeds have nine on two goals or more this season, to five last year.

So, despite the losses of Rutter and Summerville, Leeds have some how managed to replace the duo by sharing the goals around more equally. Joel Piroe is a stand-out, but the rest is shared among players.