Leeds United's £35m challenge to previous Championship record as star man tops contrasting lists

Elland Road's record signing arrived midway through a torrid Leeds season with a £35m price tag around his neck but he’s enjoying his football again and it's showing not only in his demeanour and performances but in the end product he is churning out.

The two goals and three assists for which he has been responsible only tell half a story, even if that is ultimately what he will be judged upon come the end of the season, because his 10 league outings have marked him out as a creative machine.

To date Rutter has laid on a grand total of 10 'big chances' for his Whites team-mates, a number that needs a little historic context before it can be truly appreciated.

Data wizards Opta define a big chance as one bearing an xG [expected goals] of at least 0.3. Sofascore put it thusly: "A situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score, usually in 1v1 scenario or from very close range when the ball has a clear path to goal and there is low to moderate pressure on the shooter."

Think Crysencio Summerville arriving at the back post to get on the end of an inviting ball across the face of goal from the right boot of Rutter on Saturday. Or Joel Piroe running onto Rutter's pass into the area to face Bristol City keeper Max O'Leary. Good passes. Good chances. Big chances.

For the first of those Rutter’s speed took him onto a ball that looked beyond his reach. That pace is a problem when games open up and Leeds can counter. For the second his vision and the weight of his pass put Piroe in behind. Just like when he played in Jaidon Anthony from his own half for a goal against Watford. Or when he split a defence to assist Summerville’s winner against Queens Park Rangers. His dribbling ability is coming in handy too – already this season he has twice taken on and beaten a player to facilitate the scoring of a goal.

Rutter already being in double figures when it comes to creating these situations is remarkable when the rest of his team-mates are taken into account, because he has doubled Summerville's tally and the Dutchman has held a serious threat in so many games this season. Dan James is joint second in the Leeds list, also with five and no one else beyond that trio has created more than one big chance according to Sofascore.

No one else in the Championship has matched Rutter's big chance creation output, Nathan Broadhead of Ipswich Town and Huddersfield Town's Sorba Thomas coming closest with seven. Indeed no one else in the top four divisions of English football can boast double figures yet - Mo Salah the nearest challenger with nine.

There is no obvious sign of flat track bullying in what Rutter is doing - he's fashioned a chance in all nine of his Championship starts and a big chance in seven of those games - and what really puts a shine on it is what Leeds players have done in recent seasons.

The 2019/20 season, with its swashbuckling Bielsaball, possessional dominance and promotion, saw Jack Harrison lead the club in big chance creation with 17. The great Pablo Hernandez created 13, having racked up 16 in Bielsa's first season in charge. Mateusz Klich, who was considered the perfect link man in Bielsa's system, was responsible for 10 big chances in the title-winning campaign and nine the previous season.

Wider Championship performance and records that appear to date back only as far as 2016/17 for this particular metric further illuminate how relentless Rutter has been thus far in creating danger.

Ryan Giles, who spent last season on loan at Middlesbrough, created 23 big chances - the most by any player in the past seven campaigns.

At his current rate and with 35 games remaining, Leeds' centre forward is well on course to set the bar incredibly high. What Daniel Farke will hope is that Rutter's assists track at a not-too-dissimilar rate because that will mean his side are turning Rutter's magic into goals and converting attacking potential to points.

Before anyone dances on the table, as Farke might say, Rutter is also leading the division in another metric when it comes to big chances and anyone with the Bristol City game fresh in their mind could have a good stab at what it might be.

Rutter ranks first, alongside Leicester City's Stephy Mavididi, Ipswich's George Hirst and Blackburn Rovers man Harry Leonard, for big chances missed. The quartet have all spurned six situations in which they could reasonably be expected to score. All of them have a pair of league goals to their name. None of the others can say they are contributing quite as much to the making of chances as Rutter, however.

Something Bielsa said when Bamford's profligacy was raised en route to promotion was that his worry was not so much when a striker was missing chances but when he was not getting on the end of any, and in any case Rutter's wastefulness can be more easily forgiven when he is giving others so many opportunities to get on the scoresheet.

But it's always healthy to have room for improvement and goalscoring is the obvious area for Rutter to target. As it stands he's already well on his way to becoming a Leeds United favourite, a dressing room favourite and one Championship defenders' least favourite players.