When Crysencio Summerville nudged for a short-term loan deal in January he was met with the uncompromising ‘no’ of Marcelo Bielsa. The Argentinian manager’s philosophy was clear when it came to the under-23s: those good enough to contribute to the first team were kept in West Yorkshire, and with the litany of injuries that had the 2021/2022 campaign on a knife edge it was these under-23s that packed the substitutes bench.
It was a strange kind of limbo for Summerville, alongside the likes of Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Charlie Cresswell, who were too good to be loaned out yet not good enough to usurp Bielsa’s trusted core. That limbo was more defined for the 20-year-old who proved he was a class above the Premier League 2 - with six goals and one assist in 768 minutes (equal to about 8.5 games) - yet had to compete for first-team action with Raphinha.
It meant that last season, at 20-years-old - a time when consistent minutes are so crucial - the Dutch youngster racked up just 1,015 minutes, only 125 of which were for the first team. Leeds under-23’s relegation into the second division of the youth league makes it all the more crucial for Summerville to be involved in first-team action next season, at Leeds or elsewhere.
