Crysencio Summerville: Leeds’ Dutch Superstar

Birthdate: October 30, 2001

Foot: Right

Height: 5’9

Nationality: Netherlands

Contract Expiry: June 30, 2026

In 2008, at just 7 years old, Crysencio Summerville joined the acclaimed Feyenoord academy. Watching the Dutch-born winger today gives clear context to this, as his technical ability and match intelligence seem like a sixth sense. Ten years on, in 2018, Summerville signed his first professional contract at 16 years of age with the same club.

Following the contract were 2 loans out to lesser teams in the Netherlands, in which his performances drew interest from England’s Leeds United. In September of 2020, at 18 years old, he was brought to wear white, blue, and yellow. After a few appearances here and there, Summerville would properly kick off in the 2022/2023 season.

Beginning the season as a bench option, he slowly worked his way up to more regular minutes and even had a scoring streak of four games. One of which was an iconic winner that broke Virgil van Dijk’s 70-game Anfield unbeaten streak. However, unfortunately for Summerville, he was still considered a bench option and failed to get in the starting lineup for nearly every game to finish the season.

2023/2024

Following a relegation, Leeds United lost most of the predominant talents in their squad. One of the only attacking talents to stay at Elland Road was Summerville, which undoubtedly put pressure on him to perform off the jump. Clearly, he was not phased and started the season with a beautiful performance against Cardiff City where he assisted and scored a game-equalizer in the 95th minute.

Photo: Sofascore

Summerville played most of the season on the left wing of a 4–2–3–1, cutting inside with his predominant right foot. However, he had a few games playing on the right.

Dribbling

At 5’9, Crysencio is by no means the shortest winger you’ll see. Nonetheless, he possesses a very low center of gravity and has very agile and quick feet. Paired with his rapid acceleration, his body feints are extremely dangerous and his incredible reaction time allows him to take small and necessary touches on the ball to beat the defender(s).

He also has the intelligence to put defenders on their front foot and trick them into diving in (where he then will brush past them). To add even more, he is full of confidence, with no fear of taking any player on. These skills pair perfectly with his inverted left-wing role, as he can use his stronger foot (right) to cut inside and create space for him to dribble, cross, or shoot.

Summerville performs a body feint which (somehow) takes out two defenders, leaving one on the floor

Summerville waits for the defender to dive in, to which he changes his direction and dribbles into space

Summerville’s dribbling does more than just pass the eye test, as he also exhibits superb data. Here are some of his stats from the most recent season (compared to other wingers in the Championship):

• 2.52 successful take-ons p/90 (top 8%)

• 51.3% successful take-on rate (top 11%)

• 265.78y total carry distance p/90 (top 7%)

• 3.01 carries into final third p/90 (top 3%)

• 2.57 carries into penalty area p/90 (top 5%)

As you can see, he is not only gifted with his take-on abilities but carrying too. Once he finds the space, his speed and control allow him to carry the ball and create attacking opportunities for his team. Throughout the season, Summerville was relied on for picking up the ball in Leeds’ half and progressing it to the other end of the pitch.

Summerville picks the ball up and beats a defender, running into the space for a counter

Finishing

With 19 goals in 43 appearances, it’s very clear that Summerville has amazing finishing skills and confidence. Almost serving as a right-footed Mohamed Salah, Crysencio has a great mix of curl, finesse, and power behind his shooting. Again, this ability is very well suited to his position… as a large chunk of his goals look very similar.

Summerville cuts inside, does a body feint and takes the shot (resulting in a goal)

Summerville cuts inside, feints the defender and scores

A very important trait of his is how often he shoots. With 3.16 shots p/90 (top 7%), he keeps the defenders guessing whether he will take a crack or provide a deft pass to his on-running number 9. During the last season, Summerville averaged a whopping 0.42 xG p/90 (top 3%), which for a winger is something to dream of. If defenders weren’t already scared, he also is fairly equipped with a finish from his weak foot.

Summerville does a fake shot with his right foot to change to his left foot where he takes the shot (and scores)

Passing / Crossing

Key to Leeds’ attacking threat, Summerville takes a lot of chances with his crosses. He averages 4.81 crosses p/90 (top 13%). Granted, most of these come from set pieces as he is the dedicated taker on his team. However, that should not be seen as any discredit, he is the set-piece taker for a reason. He averages 1.24 shots created p/90 from his dead balls (top 4%), and whips in some incredible balls. Similar to his shooting, he wraps the ball with such finesse and power that defenders seem to fail to predict where the ball may land at times.

Summerville’s corner perfectly lands in the middle of the box, right on the tall centreback’s head (resulting in a goal)

Not only can Crysencio cross, but he is also capable of hidden and weighted passes in behind to set up his teammates. Being an attacker himself, it seems that he knows exactly how he should set up his fellow forwards… His through balls and cutbacks rarely do not land in the exact area needed for his teammate to run onto.

Summerville plays a through ball to his teammate, which puts him into a 1v1 with the keeper

Summerville performs a cutback at the byline for his teammate

Some stats to back-up his creative abilities:

• 33.55 passes completed p/90 (top 15%)

• 0.32 expected assists p/90 (top 3%)

• 2.88 key passes p/90 (top 1%)

• 1.75 passes into penalty area (top 20%)

Summerville’s crafty playmaking is certainly something that may go underlooked due to his flashy dribbling and efficient finishing, but it certainly is part of his very strong repertoire of skills.

Tactical Responsibility, and Where He Could Play Next

Daniel Farke’s Leeds is not too different from his other projects, high energy and press. He expects everyone on the team to work for the ball, and his wingers are not excused. Summerville is no different and puts in a great shift in every game… this is partly proven by his 0.5 tackles in the opponent’s third p/90 (top 12%).

Summerville sprinting back to help his team defend a counter

When his team is in possession and he’s off the ball; that’s where Summerville shows his true game sense… playing in an academy since 7 pays off! He will often drift towards the middle of the attack, confusing defenders tasked to mark him. Having the speed and acceleration necessary, he will make runs behind defenders frequently.

Even when he doesn’t get the ball, these runs still activate defenders, causing them to be less aware and out of position for threats elsewhere. With this, he also does not mind checking in deep to allow runners to go into the space he creates behind him.

Summerville making himself open for a pass from his centreback, leading an opposition player to follow him (and leaving space behind)

Having played a large portion of his career on the right wing too, it’s clear he understands how to play on either side of the field. This allows him and his team to have fluidity between the front line.

Obviously, though, Summerville is extremely talented on his left flank. As you can see from this graphic (blue being Leeds’ control), Leeds heavily prefer to bring the ball down his end.

His ability to make defenders second guess, be afraid to step up, and fear challenging him in a 1v1 plays a massive role in his team’s attack. Not only does he have the physical and technical prowess, but he also has the driven must-go-to-goal attitude that viewers can all attest to wanting from a winger.

When you look at this image, given everything learned about Summerville, it’s nearly impossible to guess where he might go here. This picture is a great example of his multitude of threats, fullbacks overlapping, a number 9 to play a give-and-go with, and 2 other runners ready to make runs behind.

To no one’s surprise, Summerville earned himself the Player of the Season award with his performances in the 2023/2024 Championship season, and he will be looking to achieve it again in the upcoming year.

Teams that might need his remarkable danger are; PSG, who could use him as the pacey inverted winger that Mbappe once was for them, Aston Villa, who could use a left-sided attacker right now (especially with their frequently injured wingers), and RB Leipzig, who are losing out on Xavi Simons and need to restore his threat

To summarize, Summerville’s excellent intelligence, technical ability, confidence, physical attributes and mentality allow him to play in a way that any team can be scared of facing.

By: Ollie Enock / @ollieswriting

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Marc Atkins / Getty Images

Stats, data and images provided by: FBRef, SofaScore, Opta, EFL