Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has had a difficult summer transfer window so far as he has already lost several members of his first-team squad.
Teenage whiz Archie Gray left to join Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur on a permanent deal, after his first season at senior level last
term.
Central midfielder Glen Kamara has also moved on from Elland Road to join Ligue 1 side Rennes, having only joined the Whites from Rangers last summer.
Farke will now be hoping that he does not lose any more of his key players from the 2023/24 campaign, particularly amid reported interest in star forward Crysencio Summerville.
Fabrizio Romano claims that West Ham United have submitted an initial bid in an attempt to sign the Dutch whiz, who is also wanted by Italian giants Roma.
There is no price attached to the offer or a mention of how much Leeds would want for the reigning Championship Player of the Season, though, and it remains to be seen how likely an exit is for the attacker at this stage.
If the West Yorkshire outfit can keep hold of Summerville, though, then they could land a dream partner for him as they eye a swoop for another star from the division.
Leeds interested in Championship ace
According to The Mirror (22/07/2024), Leeds have joined the hunt to sign Blackburn Rovers attacker Sammie Szmodics ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
The report claims that both the Whites and Premier League side Ipswich Town are interested in a swoop for the Ireland international before the deadline passes at the end of next month.
Blackburn, however, are battling to keep hold of their star player and have gone as far as to offer him higher wages to tempt him to remain at Ewood Park for the forseeable future.
It adds that interest is growing in the Rovers forward, though, and that Leeds are now in the mix to sign him to bolster their attacking options.
Meanwhile, Ipswich reporter Stuart Watson claims that the Tractor Boys, who just earned promotion to the top-flight, have had an offer of £6m turned down by Blackburn for Szmodics.
The journalist adds that the Championship side are holding out for a staggering fee of £20m at this moment in time, which is more than three times as much as Ipswich's initial offer.
It seems unlikely that Leeds would spend £20m on a player as a Championship team but they should keep tabs on his situation and look to pounce later in the window if the forward decides to push for an exit and the valuation lowers, as he could be a dream for Summerville.
Crysencio Summerville's wing wizardry for Leeds
The Dutch attacker was crowned the Championship Player of the Season for the 2023/24 campaign thanks to his electric play down the wing for the Whites.
He won the award over Szmodics and Leicester City's Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who has since signed for Chelsea, and this means that Leeds could end up with two of the best three players from the division last season by the end of this window.
Summerville came away with that trophy due to his fantastic ability to score and create goals on a regular basis from a left wing position for Farke's side.
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23/24 Championship
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Crysencio Summerville
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Appearances
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43
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Goals
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19
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Assists
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9
|
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Big chances created
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17
|
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Key passes per game
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2.6
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Stats via Sofascore
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As you can see in the table above, the 22-year-old magician chipped in with a eye catching 28 goal contributions in 43 appearances in the second tier.
He also had a good reason to be frustrated with his teammates as they did not make the most of his outstanding creativity throughout the season.
Summerville racked up 12.53 xA and created 17 'big chances' for his fellow attackers but was only rewarded with nine assists, which shows that their wasteful finishing was to blame for him not getting into double figures for assists as well as goals.
These statistics suggest that Leeds should be looking to bring in a player with excellent and efficient finishing skills to make the most of the creativity that the flying Dutchman provides the team with on a weekly basis, which is why Szmodics should be signed.
Why Szmodics would be perfect for Summerville
The Ireland international could come in to be the perfect player to play alongside Summerville in the number ten position for Leeds, due to his fantastic finishing ability.
Making the most of chances was a huge problem for the Whites during the 2023/24 campaign, as was illustrated by the Dutch attacker's lack of assists in comparison to the quality of chances he created.
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Leeds' biggest xG underperformers
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23/24 Championship
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xG
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Goals
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xG differential
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Georgino Rutter
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16.05
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7
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-9.05
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Patrick Bamford
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11.11
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8
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-3.11
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Joe Rodon
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2.51
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0
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-2.51
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Ethan Ampadu
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2.3
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0
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-2.3
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Mateo Joseph
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2.43
|
1
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-1.43
|
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Stats via WhoScored
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As you can see in the table above, Georginio Rutter and Patrick Bamford were particularly wasteful with the opportunities that came their way in the division.
Whereas, Szmodics scored 27 goals from 21.41 xG for Blackburn in the Championship, which shows that his finishing was considerably above average – as he outperformed his xG by almost six goals.
The 28-year-old star, who was described simply as a "goalscorer" by Jon Dahl Tomasson, scored 27 goals in 44 league outings as he proved himself to be a reliable source of goals in the second tier.
In fact, he ranked within the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the Championship for non-penalty goals per 90 (0.62) – the highest total per 90 in the league.
This shows that Szmodics was one of the best goalscorers, particularly in his position, in the entire division last season and that is why he could be a fantastic signing for Leeds.
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By
Dan Emery
Jul 23, 2024
Not only would he add more goals to Farke's squad but he would also provide Summerville with a competent finisher who can finally make the most of the chances that the winger creates each week.