Chelsea were the only club to make more money through player sales than Leeds United across the whole of Europe in the summer.
Leeds were able to raise a total of £143.5 million as a number of their key assets from last season moved on, in what was a bigger rebuild than many had expected.
In total, Leeds let go of 21 players over the course of the summer and brought in eight to replace them. So far, it looks like some good business has been done.
Leeds have made an unbeaten start to the league season with eight points from their first four matches, three more than they had amassed at this stage 12 months ago.
That is despite arguably their three best players in Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter all earning moves to the Premier League.
Murphy says Georginio Rutter deal ‘surprised’ him
Following the play-off final defeat to Southampton in May, Summerville looked like the only dead cert to move on from that trio.
There had been hope Gray and Rutter would stick around for another year but it quickly became apparent that would not be the case as the former joined Spurs.
Around a month later, Summerville eventually earned his well-deserved £25 million move to West Ham, which everyone thought would be the last of the major exits.
However, Rutter soon followed Summerville into the top-flight as Brighton decided to activate his £40 million release clause just a matter of hours before it expired.
Rutter’s performances last season were undoubtedly of a player with Premier League potential, but seeing him leave for £15 million more than Summerville was an eyebrow raiser.
And that is certainly the opinion pundit Danny Murphy shares, as he revealed his shock on talkSPORT that a club like Brighton – known for their smart recruitment – splashed so much money on the ‘unpredictable and inconsistent’ Rutter.
He said: “I will tell you what. They have spent a hell of a lot this summer and the expectations are going to be higher, but I was surprised that they spent what they did on Rutter from Leeds. I have seen quite a lot of him and he is talented, but he is unpredictable and inconsistent.”
When asked if he is worth the moment, Murphy said: “No. That’s a hell of a lot of money for someone that was on the Leeds bench a lot.
Why Brighton was a strange move for Georginio Rutter
It is hard to begrudge Rutter of a move to Brighton as clearly it is a progressive club, heading in the right direction, who like to give younger players a chance.
At the same time, however, it is a strange move. Brighton spent an incredible amount of money during the summer and now have a squad packed with options, a lot of which are in Rutter’s position.
Rutter has come off the bench on the right-wing in both of his appearances so far, and if that is the position he continues to play, game time is going to be hard to come by.
Brighton also splashed heavily on the signings of Yankuba Minteh and Brajan Gruda, both of whom are right-wingers who are stronger on their left.
In the number 10 role, Joao Pedro and Matt O’Riley are also likely to be ahead of him in the pecking order.
As shown by his time at Leeds, Rutter is a player who needs to get into a rhythm to show his best, and it does not look like he will be afforded that opportunity at Brighton.
