Leeds United will suffer Georginio Rutter blow for second summer in a row if Chelsea land Brighton deal | OneFootball

Georginio Rutter has been linked with a move to Chelsea this summer

Leeds United’s disappointment over losing Georginio Rutter to Brighton last summer will only grow stronger if he makes the move to bitter rivals Chelsea.

According to Florian Plettenberg, the Frenchman is attracting interest from the London outfit ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window.

The 22-year-old completed the switch to the Seagulls late in the summer window last year, with the Guardian reporting a club record fee of £40 million was agreed with Leeds.

Rutter was a key figure under Daniel Farke, with the forward turning around his poor start to life at Elland Road to become a crucial part of their 2024 promotion push, which ultimately led to a play-off final loss to Southampton.

He has established himself as a similarly important part of Fabian Hurzeler’s team in the Premier League, featuring 28 times in the division so far this season.

Leeds United’s Georginio Rutter disappointment

Leeds supporters knew that one consequence of last year’s loss to Southampton at Wembley Stadium would be the sale of key players in order to maintain a healthy financial position.

The sales of Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville earlier in the market had led to some optimism that perhaps Rutter might stay.

However, as the final weeks of the market approached, the deal with Brighton was finally completed on 19 August.

Given he had contributed six goals and 16 assists in the previous campaign, this was a huge blow to the team.

But this was an inevitable consequence that supporters had come to accept, and now it could go from bad to worse for the Whites if Chelsea swoop in the summer.

Leeds’ rivalry with the Blues goes back decades, most notably coming to a head in 1970 at the FA Cup final, and it's one both sets of supporters have maintained over the years.

Seeing one of their best talents from the 2023/24 campaign playing at Stamford Bridge would be a bitter pill to swallow.

Rutter move would add extra edge to Chelsea clashes if Leeds are promoted

With Leeds now looking in a strong position to get promoted, there is a very real possibility that Farke’s side comes up against Rutter next season while he’s playing for Chelsea.

This would add an extra edge to those games, and it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction he would get at Elland Road if visiting with the London outfit.

There would be very little ill will if appeared at the stadium in the blue of Brighton, the nature of football means that departures are to be expected.

But crossing the boundary to move to a club that is such a fierce rival of Leeds would likely not go down well with supporters.

That he’d have made the switch after just 12 months away would sting, especially if he’s sold for a much higher fee than the £40 million the Yorkshire outfit received for him.