Leeds United’s trio of big money exits to the Premier League have not really had the chance to impress yet.
Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter all made the move to established top-flight sides in the summer, with Leeds raising in excess of £100 million for the trio.
Though it was frustrating to see them all go in the same window, at the same time, it was not much of a surprise considering the season’s they had.
Summerville and Gray were named the Championship’s POTS and YPOTS respectively, while Rutter was named alongside the former in the TOTS.
However, in their opening month of the season at Tottenham, West Ham and Brighton, they have played a combined total of just 69 Premier League minutes so far.
Merson tips former Leeds star Crysencio Summerville to struggle
Of course, it is only early days for all three of them at their new clubs and it was always going to take time for them to settle due to their lack of Premier League experience.
Gray certainly feels like the most likely of the three to be a guaranteed success, while the jury is certainly out on Rutter at Premier League level after his struggles last time.
Summerville, meanwhile, is a more difficult one to predict. He showed flashes of what he could do at the top level during Leeds‘ relegation season, before then taking the Championship by storm.
However, whether he can cope with the physicality of the top defenders remains to be seen, and whenever both Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen are fit, it is hard to see how he starts.
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson is someone who believes he will struggle, suggesting in his latest Sportskeeda column that Premier League full-backs will be too much for him.
He wrote: “West Ham’s other new signing Crysencio Summerville might find it hard to impress though. Every full-back in the Premier League is a full international so it’s not like the Championship, where he dominated.”
Leeds told Manor Solomon is perfect Summerville replacement
Ultimately, though, it is not Leeds’ job to worry about what Summerville is doing this season, with his exit now firmly in the past.
There had been some worries Leeds would not be able to adequately replace the Dutchman but EFL pundit Sam Parkin believes they have found the perfect one in Manor Solomon.
He said: “I think Clarkey spoke about Manor Solomon last week. If you were going to replace Summerville with someone that’s already plying their trade in this country, Solomon is right up there.
“He’s got the signature move that they lost from Summerville, chopping in from the left-hand-side and bending it. He’s got the low centre of gravity and looks like a really good player.
“I have covered him on the international stage a couple of times and he is a very, very good player. That’s a great get for them and flashing back to that Hull victory the other day, Leeds were by far and away the better side.”
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