Leeds United 'eye' repeat of Crysencio Summerville transfer trick as £25m West Ham exit nears

Leeds United could repeat the trick that saw them sign Crysencio Summerville four years ago with reports linking them to Dutch winger Sontje Hansen.

United will soon be in the market for wide reinforcements, with Summerville closing in on a move to West Ham after talks progressed through this past week. The initial fee is expected to sit somewhere between £25-30million, with potential add-ons taking it closer to the top of that range.

Having registered 29 league goal contributions - 20 goals and nine assists - on his way to the Championship’s Player of the Season award, there was belief Summerville would command a fee north of £30m but the profit margin on his £1.5m arrival is significant. That initial fee paid to Feyenoord in 2020 now looks like a real bargain and club chiefs could return to the Eredivisie with Dutch media reporting on interest in Hansen.

Voetbal International names Leeds as one of two EFL clubs weighing up a potential move for the NEC Nijmegen winger, with League One outfit Birmingham City also thought to be keen. But the 22-year-old is said to have ‘caught the eye’ of several other English clubs after an impressive breakthrough campaign in senior football.

Hansen joined NEC as a free agent last summer after being released by Ajax, going on to register six goals and seven assists in 38 appearances for the top-tier Dutch outfit. That form also earned the winger a call-up to the Netherlands Under-21 squad earlier in the season and he has played regularly through the age groups at international level.

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But NEC could now look to cash in on the winger, with any sale generating profit on the player who signed for nothing 12 months ago. Hansen still has three years left on his contract with the Dutch club and so the report suggests it would take a ‘high transfer fee’ to lure him away.

The exact amount of that fee remains to be seen but it is likely to be far less than the £25-30m Leeds will gain from selling Summerville, due to the financial differences present between Dutch and English football. And the Whites can count on past success in recruiting from the Netherlands, not least with their imminent exit.

While he is a little older than Summerville was at the time of his arrival in Leeds, Hansen carries a similar pedigree, having come through the academy at a top-level club before spending one season with a mid-table outfit. The NEC forward did make two first-team appearances for Ajax while still a teenager, and can also boast four years as a regular for Jong Ajax - essentially the club’s B team that competed in the second-tier.

Leeds are known to have worked extensively in scouting potential options out wide, having made contingency plans for the exit of one or both of Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto. They have also been linked with Crystal Palace’s Jesurun Rak-Sakyi in recent weeks and speculation will only intensify between now and August 30.