Borussia Dortmund summer valuation revealed after Leeds United transfer near-miss | OneFootball

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To date, life at Leeds United has rarely gone to plan for Georginio Rutter.

The 21-year-old traded Hoffenheim for Elland Road in January, with the club shattering their transfer record to bring Rutter into the fray amid an ongoing relegation battle, which they eventually lost.

Rutter himself enforced next to no impact on proceedings either and struggled to gain full fitness and, crucially, the all-important license of faith from his manager.

Indeed, the French youth international only received one league start, in which he played a peripheral role for just over an hour in Leeds' slender 1-0 defeat away to Chelsea at the beginning of March, and it wasn't until the final day of the season when he notched his first goal contribution, an assist against Tottenham.

So naturally then, given the sheer amount of faces that sought the Whites' exit door, Rutter had appeared among those primed to move on despite being with the team for a short duration.

He eventually stayed and looks to be central to Daniel Farke's plans this term but a fresh revelation has detailed just how much Leeds could've pocketed had they sanctioned a sale amid interest from German giants Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund's financial muscle meant that could offer all the way up to €29m although that still wouldn't have satisfied Leeds, Ruhr 24 have claimed.

It's believed that Dortmund made an initial €25m offer but Leeds rejected it as they were unwilling to sell Rutter for €3m less than what they initially forked out for his signature.

Instead, the Signal Iduna Park outfit decided to take a punt upon veteran frontman Niklas Fullkrug, though it's hard to say that one has paid dividends just yet.

Fullkrug is yet to open his account for his new club, who sit seventh in the Bundesliga after four outings.

It may seem harsh to think so, given that the forward finally appears to be finding his feet.

After getting off the mark during an emphatic 4-3 victory over high-flyers Ipswich Town last month, Rutter inspired Leeds' recent ousting of Millwall by laying on Joel Piroe's opener before getting on the scoresheet himself ten minutes from time.

But, is that really enough to warrant turning down €29m?

It's difficult to be critical of Rutter at the moment, but nonetheless, you can't really say that he's ever established the consistency in his career - let alone at Leeds - to justify rejecting all that much.

While Leeds' squad is among the most talented in the division, Daniel Farke is still very thin on the ground in some areas of the pitch and that could've been remedied had they accepted the riches from Dortmund.

Rutter may be on track to finally being unleashed, but just how long it'll be before Leeds really see good from their mammoth investment remains to be seen - and for that reason, they may well live to regret their summer stance.