Crysencio Summerville’s West Ham career has been so stop-start he was actually linked with a return to Leeds.
West Ham reportedly beat the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea to sign Crysencio Summerville from Leeds United last summer.
The Dutch winger has revealed himself that he chose the Hammers because he felt it was the best next step for his hugely promising career.
Having just been named Championship Player of the Year – by a landslide – Leeds fans expected to get top dollar for Summerville when they failed to win promotion.
But Summerville had a unique £25m release clause in his Leeds contract for such a scenario.
Summerville frustration at West Ham after starring with Leeds
The big caveat was that any club triggering it must pay the £25m in one up-front transaction.
Transfers are usually paid in instalments over the course of the contract the player signs at the buying club.
So in normal circumstances West Ham would have paid Leeds around £5m a year over his five-year deal.
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In the end the Hammers negotiated with Leeds that they would pay an extra £1m to remove the single payment clause.
Even at £26m Summerville looked a bargain in the cameos he was restricted to under Julen Lopetegui.
Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Potter’s awful Summerville injury luck
Despite obvious and understandable frustration at being left on the bench and not even making it on in some games, Summerville stayed positive and professional.
But his situation saw him linked with a potential return to Leeds in the January window with a view to re-signing for the Elland Road club if they secured promotion back to the Premier League.
When Graham Potter arrived, though, he made it clear he rated Summerville as a key starter for his side.
Summerville responded with a scintillating first half display as West Ham led 1-0 at Aston Villa in the FA Cup.
He picked up an injury and went off, though, and it handed Villa the impetus to turn the tie around to win 2-1.
Summerville has been out ever since after suffering a setback but is expected to return to the Hammers fold in April after opting not to have surgery.
Although they haven’t been able to see it as much as they might have liked, some West Ham fans have noted the way the 23-year-old expresses himself after a goal.
Now Summerville has revealed Leeds are the reason for his unusual celebration.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Summerville says Leeds disrespect is reason for his celebration
Summerville rests his head on hands and closes his eyes as his goal ritual.
And it is his time at his former club that inspired it.
“I felt that people were sleeping on me when I was at Leeds United,” Summerville told West Ham fans in a Q and A.
“Because I thought it was my time last season, so my celebration came from that.
“I scored many goals (for Leeds), but people still didn’t appreciate it, and that’s why I did the celebration.
“I kept it because kids and people, they loved it, so now I’m just doing it.”
Summerville has only scored one goal for the Hammers due to his limited starts followed by a three-month injury lay-off.
Hammers goal among Summerville’s three favourites
But he netted 21 in 49 games and a bundle of assists for Leeds last season.
His solitary strike for the Hammers, against Man United, is listed in his favourite three goals of his fledgling career so far.
The other two came in that rich vein of form for Leeds.
Summerville lists a strike away at Middlesbrough and one against Rotherham United at home – a Panenka penalty – as his favourites alongside his first West Ham goal as his most memorable so far.
Let’s hope there are many more where that came from and that Hammers fans will be seeing his sleeping celebration on a regular basis in the future.
Because with designs on making the Dutch team, Summerville could be a real difference-maker for West Ham in the coming years.