Leeds United: Simon Grayson weighs in on Crysencio Summerville future | OneFootball

Leeds United winger Crysencio Summerville won the EFL Championship Player of the Season Award at the 2024 EFL Awards after a stunning 2023/24 campaign.

Leeds United suffered relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season alongside Southampton and Leicester City after finishing second to bottom of the league.

Summerville showed signs of promise in the Premier League last season. He scored four goals, including a late winner against Liverpool at Anfield, and recorded two assists, but struggled to nail down a starting spot in the side.

The step-down to the Championship seems to have done a world of good to the 22-year-old's development. He made his Championship debut in a thrilling match against Cardiff City where Leeds found themselves 2-0 down within 39 minutes. Summerville's out-swinging corner found the head of captain Liam Cooper to bring Leeds back into the game before the Dutchman scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser.

The winger continued to develop and flourish throughout the Championship campaign and his 17 goals and eight assists dragged Leeds into contention for automatic promotion back to the Premier League. According to Sofascore, Summerville's average rating of 7.78 is the highest in the division.

The 22-year-old's stellar season has not gone unnoticed, with Liverpool and Newcastle reportedly interested in signing the Dutchman, according to FootballTransfers.com.

Simon Grayson: Leeds will retain Summerville if promoted

Simon Grayson started his professional football career at Leeds but failed to establish himself in the first-team squad. He later returned to the club as a manager, where he helped them win promotion to the second-tier in the 2009/10 season, finishing as runners-up to Norwich City after a dramatic final day win against Bristol Rovers.

Offering his opinion on the Summerville transfer saga, he told Betway: "Crysencio Summerville has been great this season for Leeds United and I think if they got to the Premier League, I don't think there's going to be any issues with keeping him.

"If for whatever reason they don't, then Leeds, through their own choice, but maybe choice of the player, will lose some of the better players through the financial restraints and also the ambitions of the club.

"But he's got to finish the season off in a real positive manner. He struggled in the last couple of games purely because teams are worried about his threat of what he can do. Sometimes he's got two or three players around him all the time. But that's the mark of the level of quality that he's brought to the EFL with Leeds all season."

Born in Rotterdam, Summerville signed his first professional contract with local club and Dutch giants Feyenoord. He never made a competitive first-team appearance for Feyenoord, instead choosing to make a loan move to Dutch second-division club Dordrecht, where he scored an impressive five league goals in only 18 matches.

He went on loan to Eredivisie club ADO Den Haag the following season, where he became the club's youngest-ever goalscorer in the top division with a tap-in against Vitesse.

Dutch news outlet Voetbal International reported that Summerville had rejected a contract offer from Feyenoord following his successful loan deal at ADO Den Haag. He later signed for Leeds on a three-year deal.

The talented young attacker has been capped at U16, U17, U18, U19, and U21 levels by the Netherlands and has scored goals for each team.