Crysencio Summerville Leeds United clause revealed as winger completes West Ham United move

Summerville has joined the Premier League outfit for a sum in excess of £25m, with add ons potentially further boosting Leeds' coffers. The YEP understands Summerville's contract contained a clause that became active upon the club's relegation from the Premier League but it was not until this summer that it was triggered by West Ham's bid. Other clubs in the top flight did take a look at Summerville but only the Hammers elected to trigger the clause and take him to the Premier League.

The winger joined Leeds from Feyenoord in September 2020 for £1.5m and flirted with senior football under Marcelo Bielsa. A year later Summerville delivered significant hints as to his potential with goals in back-to-back games, before his professionalism was called into question by Bielsa's replacement Jesse Marsch, who told the press: "A big factor for him is discipline and professionalism and work ethic. It was a little bit of everything [that needed improving]: making sure that he was getting here early enough, making sure that he was putting work in in the gym, that he was preparing for training the right way, that he was paying attention to video, that he was applying the lessons that we wanted to learn in training every day." The YEP understands that Marsch denied Summerville permission to fly to the Netherlands for his birthday, before photos emerged on his social media account showing the winger partying with friends and family back home.

Summerville ended that season with four goals from 28 Premier League appearances and status as an exciting emerging talent, as the Whites were relegated following Marsch's sacking and Sam Allardyce's replacement of Javi Gracia.

Under Daniel Farke Summerville shone in the Championship, marking himself out as a player with an ability level beyond that of most opposition teams and players and scoring 19 goals and adding nine assists to earn the title of EFL Championship Player of the Year and a place in the affection of Whites supporters.

With 49ers Enterprises chief Paraag Marathe refusing to rule out sales due to the club's Profitability and Sustainability position, Summerville's future has been up in the air all summer. The youngster pulled out of the club's second friendly against Hannover last weekend, citing a hamstring issue and then this week West Ham's interest turned to action. The two clubs reached a deal on Wednesday and Summerville travelled to London before undergoing a two-part medical and coming to personal terms with the Hammers.

Despite links to Liverpool and Chelsea, and the early-window interest of Brighton, West Ham were the only club to decide to make a move for the 22-year-old, who becomes the seventh player to be sold by Leeds this summer. Archie Gray went to Spurs for £40m, Glen Kamara was sold to Stade Rennais for £8m and Charlie Cresswell to Toulouse for £3.8m, with Kris Klaesson, Diego Llorente and Marc Roca also making permanent moves abroad.

Farke said after Saturday's friendly win over Valencia that it would be no easy task for Leeds to replace a player of Summerville's calibre as they are still 'paying for the sins of the past' and operating with 'pretty limited resources' despite their player sales. Leeds were already in the market for a full-back and a central midfielder and now must mitigate Summerville's departure with another attacking signing.

A club statement said: "Leeds United can confirm Crysencio Summerville has today joined West Ham United in a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee, after an exit clause within his contract was triggered. The 22-year-old joined the Whites in 2020 and went on to impress in the youth setup at Thorp Arch, before breaking into the first team in September 2021. His form throughout the [last] campaign saw Summerville named the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Season at the EFL awards in London. Crysencio now departs Elland Road to join Premier League outfit West Ham and we wish him well for the future."