For Leeds United boss Daniel Farke, it makes little sense trying to find an out-and-out, readymade successor for Crysencio Summerville.
With 21 goals and ten assists to his name last season, the Championship’s 2023/24 Player of the Year is about as irreplaceable as they come.
Speaking ahead of Leeds United’s first league game post-Summerville against Portsmouth at Elland Road, Farke feels that – even if The Whites did want to sign a player of the Dutchman’s quality – the funds involved would make such a pursuit impossible.
Furthermore, framing any signing as the ‘new Summerville’ would only serve to pile unneeded pressure upon the shoulders of a late-summer recruit.
“No secret that Crysencio was named the best player in the league,” Farke tells Leeds Live of West Ham’s new £25 million signing. “(We) can’t replace such a player one on one. Don’t have enough money to do this in the Championship.
“(We) want to add another player in this position but not a one-on-one replacement. Too much pressure on the potential incoming.”
With HITC understanding that Jonathan Rowe of Norwich City has emerged around the top of Leeds’ wishlist, Farke’s comments could prove to be very helpful in allowing the England Under 21 international the time and space to feel his way in without the pressure to immediately emulate Summerville’s dazzling impact.
That is, should Leeds get their man of course.
Leeds United are now without Crysencio Summerville
Turning to Rowe after former Norwich team-mate Gabriel Sara joined Galatasaray for £15 million, one of last season’s breakout stars has just a year remaining on his contract.
Rowe, The Sun suggests, may be available for a potential bargain fee of just £8 million (9th August, page 51).
French giants Marseille are reportedly interested too. L’OM boss Roberto de Zerbi was at the helm of Brighton and Hove Albion when The Seagulls scouted Rowe a few months back, interestingly, alongside Brentford, Crystal Palace and Fulham.
Steve Weaver, Norwich’s Head of Football Development until recently, certainly has no doubts about Rowe’s ability to thrive in the top flight.
Should he end up at Leeds, Farke might not be getting Summerville 2.0. But he would get his hands on a Premier League quality player at Championship level.
“It’s not very surprising he’s had the impact he has had,” Weaver, who watched Rowe rise through the ranks in East Anglia, tells Sky Sports. “He’s left-footed, right-footed, very, very quick, and he does the hardest thing in the game as well as anyone.
“Score goals.”
13 of them, in fact. Rowe, who can play on the right or in the left-sided role that Summerville made his own at Elland Road, even started last season with goals in his first four Championship outings.
Jonathan Rowe of Norwich City is a Leeds target
“He’s ready to play in the Premier League,” Weaver adds, hailing Rowe’s drive to improve.
“He’ll test you. He was always curious. He’d always want to be at the next level long before he was ready. He’s a very rare breed. At 15, he’d just come and talk to you. Other kids won’t do that, they want someone to do it for them.
“He’ll have an argument, he’ll make his point, and he could charm his way around a lot of things, but he’d always listen and learn.
“I always remember him turning to me during a training session and asking how to get to the next level. I said his numbers weren’t great. He wasn’t getting enough goals or assists. Later, we sat down and went through all the data.
“You never had to sugarcoat things with him. You could be honest. He just took it away, thought about it, and six weeks later he made his professional debut.”
While Leeds take on Portsmouth, Rowe’s Norwich visit another newly-promoted club in the lunchtime trip to Oxford United.
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