“Leeds Fans Were Right All Along – Summerville’s West Ham Gamble Backfires”

Summerville Set for Elland Road Return as Leeds Host Struggling West Ham

Leeds United will welcome back a familiar face on Friday night, as former fan favourite Crysencio Summerville returns to Elland Road with West Ham United.

Summerville became a hero at Leeds after netting 20 goals during Daniel Farke’s first season in charge, helping the Whites reach the play-off final. However, following their heartbreak at Wembley, the Dutch winger was among those to depart, joining West Ham in a £25 million deal.

Now, he returns as part of a West Ham side short on confidence and locked in a relegation battle — one that currently includes his former club.

A Move That Hasn’t Gone to Plan

When Summerville sealed his move to the Premier League, this wasn’t the scenario he imagined. His optimistic comments upon signing for the Hammers now seem a distant memory as he prepares to face Leeds again.

Back then, West Ham were riding high after a ninth-place finish under David Moyes in the 2023/24 season. But with Moyes departing that summer, Julen Lopetegui took charge and quickly made Summerville one of his first signings, offering him a five-year contract with an option for a sixth.

Upon his arrival, Summerville spoke of his lofty ambitions:

“It’s the perfect next step for my career. West Ham United is a huge club with lots of ambition and great players. I want to help write more history here and get the club back into Europe.”

However, his debut campaign did not go as planned. West Ham slumped to 14th place, and Summerville managed just one goal in 22 appearances.

Fast-forward to this season, and the situation looks even worse. The Hammers sit in the bottom three, and Summerville could soon find himself playing in a lower division than Leeds — less than two years after leaving them.

Leeds Aiming to Contain Faltering Hammers Attack

Leeds are expected to shuffle their lineup after the defeat to Burnley, with Jaka Bijol potentially making his Premier League debut in defence. One of his key tasks will be to keep Summerville quiet as West Ham look to recover from their latest setback.

The visitors’ attacking struggles have been glaring. According to Opta, they’ve registered the second-fewest shots on goal in the league (76), ahead of only Burnley. They’ve also scored the third-fewest goals (6) and rank fourth-lowest in expected goals (7.01) — clear signs of their issues in the final third.

While Leeds can take encouragement from those numbers, they’ll also note that Burnley, despite being bottom in two of those three categories, have scored more goals (9) — a warning that Daniel Farke’s side cannot afford to be complacent defensively.