Leeds United supporters will now have their eyes on the futures of Crysencio Summerville, Willy Gnonto and co after the departure of Archie Gray.
Chairman Paraag Marathe made it pretty clear after Leeds’ play-off final defeat that at least one major sale would be needed, which officially arrived on Tuesday morning.
After a weekend of back and forth, Gray completed his £40 million move to Tottenham Hotspur to significantly alleviate any remaining PSR concerns at Leeds.
And while Leeds may now be in a much stronger position financially, it is unlikely to deter other clubs from making offers for some of their other key players.
Summerville, Gnonto, Glen Kamara, Georginio Rutter and Illan Meslier have all been the subject of interest from teams in one of Europe’s top five leagues in the last week.
Given his family legacy at the club and generational potential, Gray had been the one no one wanted to lose until last week.
However, once it became apparent interest was significantly higher in him than anyone else, Leeds were unfortunately left without much choice other than to sanction a move.
In fact, prior to Gray’s exit, Leeds had actually been more open to the sales of Summerville, Gnonto or Meslier as a way of raising the necessary funds.
However, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds’ stance behind-the-scenes has now completely changed. Instead, any move they potentially make will now be on the club’s terms.
The report states ‘club sources’ are now saying they are no longer looking to ‘actively’ sell either Summerville or Gnonto, though of course, nothing can be ruled out.
If a player makes it clear their wish is to move on, Leeds will take another look at the situation, but as it stands, they now consider themselves to be in a strong position at the negotiating table.
Of the two, it was very much Summerville who enjoyed the better season over Gnonto and that is why interest has been significantly higher than him so far.
PSG have become the latest club to show an interest in Summerville, with the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Brighton also having been linked.
That just shows what a good season at Championship level can do for a player of their age. Leeds are expected to demand in excess of £30 million for Summerville, and Gray’s sale could mean it is even slightly more.
It will be interesting to see if Gnonto looks at what Summerville did last season and uses him as an example, even if his closest friend at Elland Road was to move on.
