Leeds United poised for second significant summer transfer window exit with deal expected to conclude

The Dutch winger will become the second major transfer departure of the summer, after Archie Gray's £40m move to Tottenham Hotspur. In between those deals, though, they also sold Glen Kamara to Stades Rennais for a sum in the region of £8m and Charlie Cresswell to Toulouse for £3.8m.

Despite suggestions at the start of the summer that Leeds could set a price of £35m for last season's Championship Player of the Year, they have settled for a sum in excess of £25m but shy of £30m, albeit with potentially significant add-ons. Summerville is due to complete his medical on Friday and put pen to paper on a long-term deal with the Premier League side, leaving Leeds with the job of replacing his goals, assists and the talismanic energy he showed so often in what was his first full campaign of regular senior football.

Leeds bought Summerville from Feyenoord for around £1.5m in September 2020 and showed serious potential in the Under 21s before making a breakthrough first under Marcelo Bielsa. His emergence continued during Jesse Marsch's tenure, but it was as part of Daniel Farke's forward line that Summerville really shone in the second tier, with 19 goals and nine assists.

The Whites believed that Summerville would be among the first to depart this summer and club chiefs made no secret of the need for at least one big sale to aid their position with regards to Profitability and Sustainability. But early summer window interest from the likes of Brighton failed to translate to a serious bid and it was Gray instead who first left the club.

Farke was pleased with how Summerville acquitted himself in training when the squad returned for pre-season and the 22-year-old looked sharp on the training pitch and in the friendly game against Hannover. But he reported a minor hamstring concern ahead of the second German friendly against Schalke and sat on the sidelines along with Patrick Bamford, Daniel James and Harry Gray. And with Summerville and Leeds back in the UK, West Ham made their move.

Leeds will have to move quickly to replace Summerville with an adequate forward, whether a winger or a number 10, just a week prior to the start of the Championship season. But the versatility of the likes of Georginio Rutter and Brenden Aaronson, who can both play at 10 or out wide, does give Farke options in the meantime. The manager has expressed publicly his confidence that Leeds will find 'good solutions' in the face of transfer exits and the club's hierarchy have maintained they will be ready to act in cases such as this one, to ensure Farke has what he needs to get the job of promotion done at the second attempt.

So far this summer attacking central midfielder Joe Rothwell has signed on loan from Bournemouth, Joe Rodon has completed a £10m permanent transfer from Tottenham Hotspur and right-back Jayden Bogle has moved from Sheffield United for £5m. Leeds have also welcomed back Brenden Aaronson and Max Wober, who were both out on loan last season. Aaronson made the decision, along with Leeds, to return and be part of the plans. Wober did attract Bundesliga interest but not a deal that Leeds were happy with and he too reported back to join up with the preparations for the new campaign.