Leeds United supporters recently watched one of the club’s former players, Crysencio Summerville, complete a mega-money move to Saudi Arabia.
The Netherlands international opted to move on from West Ham United after they were relegated from the Premier League, two years after a £25m transfer from Elland Road.
Summerville has left the Hammers to sign for Al Hilal for a staggering fee of £60m, which is more than double what Leeds raked in for him in the summer of 2024.
Two years on from his departure from West Yorkshire, Daniel Farke is still looking for a player who can be as influential as him at the top end of the pitch.
Why Leeds need a new Crysencio Summerville
Leeds need to find a player who can be as effective in the final third because they do not currently have a star who can offer goals and assists in equal measure in the Premier League.
Summerville was a superstar for the Whites in the Championship in the 2023/24 campaign. He scored 19 goals and created 17 ‘big chances’ for his teammates in 43 appearances on the left flank, earning a £25m move to West Ham.
In the 2025/26 campaign, though, none of Leeds’ players recorded more than five assists and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored 14 goals, was the only player who reached double figures for goals.
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Top Leeds performers in 25/26 Premier League |
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|---|---|
|
Goals |
Assists |
|
Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 14 |
Brenden Aaronson: 5 |
|
Noah Okafor: 8 |
Anton Stach: 3 |
|
Lukas Nmecha: 6 |
Ilia Gruev: 3 |
|
Anton Stach: 4 |
Jaka Bijol: 2 |
|
Brenden Aaronson: 4 |
Sean Longstaff: 2 |
No player in the squad even recorded five goals and five assists, let alone double figures in both, which shows that Farke currently lacks an outstanding attacking threat who can provide both goals and assists on a regular basis.
Therefore, the club need to find a new signing who can come in and have the potential to reach double figures for goals and assists to bolster the German manager’s attack.
Leeds make offer to sign star with shades of Summerville
They may find exactly what they are looking for if they can get a deal over the line for one of their key transfer targets ahead of the Premier League season.
TEAMtalk reports that Leeds United have submitted the best offer to Julian Brandt and his representatives in their efforts to sign the German playmaker.
The outlet claims that the Whites have the best contract on the table as it stands, despite the Germany international preferring to join a side with European football on offer.
It adds that the club have put forward a convincing argument for the 30-year-old talent to join them, and it is now down to the player to make a final decision on where he wants to play his football this season.
Brandt became a free agent at the start of this month after he opted against renewing his contract with Borussia Dortmund, and coudl arrive at Elland Road as their next version of Summerville.
The experienced attacking midfielder, who can also play on the left flank, scored 11 goals and created ten ‘big chances’ in all competitions last season, more than any Leeds midfielder managed in either statistic.
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Julian Brandt’s attacking form |
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|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Goals |
Assists |
|
25/26 |
11 |
5 |
|
24/25 |
6 |
15 |
|
23/24 |
10 |
14 |
|
22/23 |
10 |
9 |
|
21/22 |
9 |
10 |
|
20/21 |
4 |
2 |
|
19/20 |
7 |
12 |
|
18/19 |
10 |
13 |
|
17/18 |
12 |
5 |
The fact that Brandt has reached double figures for goals five times and double figures for assists five times in his club career suggests that he has the quality to be a Summerville-like figure for Farke on the left wing or in the number ten role.
He is equally capable of scoring goals as he is at creating them for his teammates, and has proven his quality in one of Europe’s major leagues over the past decade or so for Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund.
The free agent has 48 caps for Germany at international level and has played 383 times in the Bundesliga, which shows that he is incredibly experienced at the top level and should not be fazed by a move to the Premier League.
Brandt could, therefore, hit the ground running as a new signing for Leeds and provide Farke with the quality that his side lacked at times in the final third last season, given his ability to score and create goals at an impressive rate.
The German star may not be an out-and-out winger, like Summerville, who wants to constantly dribble past opposition players, but the way that he can influence matches as both a scorer and a creator could remind supporters and Farke of the Dutch forward.
