According to Phil Hay, major European clubs were interested in signing Leeds United striker Georginio Rutter in January and are still willing to take a chance on him.
According to the Athletic journalist, Leeds supporters’ animosity toward the Frenchman is not due to the player himself, but more to the fact that so much money was spent on him but he did not help Leeds avoid relegation.
When the 21-year-old went to Elland Road in January 2023, he made headlines since he shattered the club’s record for most expensive signing.
“The criticism of that signing wasn’t over Rutter per se, it was over the fact that given what he contributed in that second half of the season from the end of the transfer window onward, it wasn’t right,” Hay stated on the Square Ball at 14:00. That doesn’t mean, in my opinion, that Rutter isn’t a skilled or competent player. Larger teams in Europe are interested in him and would have taken him.
Getting better at last?
For his lackluster performances for the Whites in both the Premier League and the Championship, Rutter had a lot of people on his back.
He was played in multiple positions and he failed to make a telling impact as some of the other players have done.
However, the Millwall game was perfect for Rutter to silence his critics and offer glimpses of why the hierarchy took the gamble on him.
He arrived at Elland Road relatively unknown to the average Leeds fan and the fact that he signed for a club-record fee meant that there was going to be added scrutiny.
It now looks like he’s getting on well with Joel Piroe and perhaps Daniel Farke has figured out that Piroe playing behind him could maximise the output of the attacking duo.
It remains to be seen if Rutter can kick on from that and go on to score 15-20 goals over the course of the season.
