One of Leeds United's relegation rivals says he's still heartbroken over a failure to get the Whites promoted in 2024.
Ex-Leeds star Crysencio Summerville is one of the main reasons why West Ham United are still in the fight to stay in the Premier League and still in the FA Cup. His recent purple patch in front of goal saw him score six goals and add two assists in eight games for the Hammers, ending a 14-match run without end product.
Summerville has credited the December arrival of a baby daughter as the inspiration for his form at the start of 2026 and with his help West Ham sit just two points from safety.
Speaking to the BBC, Summerville also listed one of his former Elland Road team-mates as someone who has had an impact on his development.
"I used to watch a lot of clips of Neymar, Eden Hazard back in the day at Chelsea, Riyad Mahrez, my type of players," he said. "I love flair, I love how they play one v one with defenders. Obviously I was at Leeds United and I learned a lot from Raphinha as well, a really good player. I spoke with him a lot and picked everything up what he did, what he said. Obviously now he's one of the best players in the world."
Summerville revealed that he was 'shy' to show on his debut what he had been doing in training at Thorp Arch and a Raphinha pep talk helped change his mindset. "It came out, like my flowers came out and that always stays with me - don't be scared, just do your thing, show everyone what you're capable of," he said."
Having overcome the challenge of moving to a new country and learning English, Summerville became a star man for Leeds following their relegation from the Premier League. He scored 21 times and contributed 10 assists for Daniel Farke as the Whites missed out on automatic promotion and then suffered a play-off final defeat at Wembley at the hands of Southampton. Summerville, who departed that summer alongside Archie Gray and Georginio Rutter in a £108m exodus, says the failure to win promotion still stings.
"I choose to stay," he said. "I felt like Leeds is my home. I had a plan there as well. Like I put on my board what my plans were and one of them was bringing Leeds back to the Premier League. My mind was only on that. It was very good with many goals, many assists. Only what I still feel in my heart, a heartbreak, we lost the final against Southampton. Obviously the season after they managed to come back to the Premier League so I'm still happy for the players who stayed and who are there now."
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