Ex-Aston Villa man says Leeds United have identified 'ideal Crysencio Summerville' replacement amid talks

Former Aston Villa and Rangers defender Alan Hutton believes Norwich City player Jonathan Rowe would be an ‘ideal’ replacement at Leeds United for the departed Crysencio Summerville. It emerged last week that Premier League side West Ham United were interested in Summerville with a deal completed for £25m-plus (with add ons) last weekend after West Ham triggered a clause.

The YEP understands talks are ongoing with Norwich over Rowe, amid earlier reports from The Telegraph that a £7m bid was being prepared by the Whites. Summerville was named the Championship Player of the Season last term after scoring 20 goals and providing nine assists in 46 appearances. Rowe contributed 12 goals and two assists in 34 matches as the Canaries reached the play-offs before losing to Leeds in the semi-finals.

Leeds have until the August 30 transfer deadline to find a replacement for Summerville but Hutton feels that Rowe would prove a suitable addition as the Whites aim for promotion to the Premier League at the second time of asking.

“I think the talent is there”, Hutton told Football Insider. “If you look at the type of player he is, he’s relatively similar (to Summerville), they like to get on the ball and take people on and he scored something like 12 Championship goals last season. He knows what it’s all about, he’s robust, and you need that to play at this kind of level. I was going to say it’s different because of the pressure of playing for Leeds but I think it’s there for Norwich too. We’ve seen over the past years that they’ve gone up and down, up and down, so they know what it’s all about as well.

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“Leeds need reinforcements, they’ve had so many big players leave, the likes of (Archie) Gray and Summerville, the guys they really leaned on last season. But I do think that Rowe could be the ideal replacement for Summerville, he’s got the same kind of attributes. It’s going to be an interesting season in the Championship, there are a lot of teams that feel they could get up.”