Jesse Marsch says new signing Georginio Rutter has shown positive signs he can acclimate quickly after signing for Leeds United. The young French striker has made 64 appearances for Bundesliga side Hoffenheim prior to moving to Elland Road - a vast amount of experience at such a young age.
The Frenchman has impressed Marsch with his athletic ability but most importantly, his tactical nous in early chats with the Whites head coach. The American says he's tried to talk Rutter through Leeds' style of play and philosophy and has been pleased with those early conversations.
Marsch also believes Rutter has shown similarities, albeit slight differences with summer arrival Wilfried Gnonto and hopes he'll have a similar impact om the team.
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Marsch said: "Well I think, obviously what we're trying to do here, we're looking at what's more important for the long-term project. Where we are in the moment, there's obviously a lot of thinking from the outside and pressures from different situations that every result means a lot.
"That's always the case. I would say more, that we identified Georginio - I've known him for a while, he's someone I watched even when I was at Leipzig. It's a guy who I think is an explosive footballer, a talented player with a lot of potential and we've also found out when we've done out homework, we found this out relatively quickly, what a good person he is.
"What a hard worker he is, how much he wants to try to achieve, how much he wants to try to achieve for himself. Then when you've coached players from Germany, that have been in Germany, there's a real high level of tactical education.
"I sat down with Georginio yesterday and we talked about what we try and do and our playing model, what our strategies and philosophy are, our vocabulary and he was already very up to speed and understands most of it. So, it was a really intelligent football conversation and one that gives me real hope that he can acclimate quickly.
"So, that in the end, all of those factors were why he was the player we fought after."
When asked if Rutter was Premier League ready, or whether he'd be fast-tracked like Gnonto, Marsh said: "Willy, to be honest, when I had the first meeting with Willy when we talked about the same things, he was very responsive in the same ways.
"The difference, I guess would be that Georginio has played 57 or 60 Bundesliga matches at 20 years old. That's a pretty quick ascension for a young footballer. Even he said it was amazing how much he learned going to Hoffenheim and going to Germany.
"I think that Willy had some of the same things in Zurich. So yeah, I think it gives us hope that he can be ready soon."
Marsch added: "I think he [Rutter] has flexibility. One of the interesting things when we researched him - right foot versus left foot, when you look at most players they're either right or left foot dominant, someone who ends up being both footed ends up being 20 or 25 per cent on their week foot, that's how much they touch and move with the ball on that foot - Georginio is 50-50.
"He's maybe the most two-footed player that I've ever seen. He's strong with his left but his ability to drive in both directions, his ability in one vs one situations, his ability to run in transition, his fitness levels, his speed, quickness, there's a lot big - upside and potential with him.
"I think we can use him as a striker, I think we can use him as a wide player, use him as a second striker, so there's a lot of flexibility. We talked about that yesterday and he's very open to helping the team in whatever way is necessary and I think he can acclimate quickly."
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