Leeds United are in the midst of offloading some of their most valuable assets after their relegation to the Championship.
Rodrigo has just left for Qatar, Robin Koch has played his final game for the club, while a number of other loan deals have been negotiated too.
Leeds have a number of expensive assets on their books, but none are more expensive than Georginio Rutter.
A club-record signing at £35m, Rutter is the most expensive player at Leeds currently, and given their current predicament, it would make sense for the Frenchman to be sold.
However, according to Graham Smyth, speaking on the Inside Elland Road Podcast, Leeds’ incumbent owners, 49ers Enterprises, have no interest in writing the player off and plan on keeping him at the club for now.
49ers want to keep Rutter
Smyth shared what he knows about the £70k-a-week attacker.
“Crucially 49ers Enterprises had no interest in writing him off, their opinion is that there is nothing to write off and nothing to sell. He’s a young kid who has been here for a few months and he has a lot of potential and there could be good times ahead of him,” Smyth said.
Could shine
Rutter has had a torrid time of it so far in England, but a drop down to the Championship could be just what the doctor ordered for the Frenchman.
Whether you rate him or not, the reality is that Leeds paid £35m for the player for a reason, they saw something in him that made them think he was worth that much money, and if he can show even a glimpse of that in the Championship, he will dominate.
Let’s be real, the standard in the Championship at the moment isn’t the highest it’s ever been, so if Leeds can go into the season with a £35m attacker leading their line, they should be standing in good stead to earn promotion at the first time of asking.