Leeds United will undoubtedly need game-changers like Crysencio Summerville against Southampton in the Championship play-off final, and the Dutchman’s objective has long been to return his side to the Premier League.

The Leeds United dressing room fell dead silence. The shock of relegation was still sinking in when captain Liam Cooper stood up and told anyone around him who refused to stay and fight to do so. On that awful afternoon at Elland Road, there was an unused substitute: Crysencio Summerville.

There would be interest from other clubs that summer, but as the window continued, the ‘cool’ Dutchman had just one thing in mind: returning Leeds to the top flight.

“He has always been positive about Leeds and the fanbase,” Summerville’s former Feyenoord teammate told Leeds Live. “If you do well like he is doing now, you will of course enjoy it.”

Summerville is clearly enjoying his time at Leeds ahead of the biggest game of his career on Sunday, and the statistics speak for themselves: 20 goals, nine assists, and 120 chances created. Summerville was always a highly regarded prospect, but Daniel Farke has elevated him to new heights as the Championship’s player of the season.

Summerville is one of a few of genuine game-changers at Leeds’ disposal in a high-stakes play-off final against a side like Southampton, and the Whites will hope he can help them return to the promised land rather than perhaps bidding goodbye in loss. So, what distinguishes Summerville? Let’s ask Wouter Berger, who has known Summerville for a decade and came up via Feyenoord.

“Cree is a player who is very good one-on-one,” the Stoke City midfielder told Leeds Live. “He’s always someone who is extremely hazardous. You simply pass the ball to him, and he turns it into something amazing.”

It’s worth mentioning that Southampton has kept Summerville quiet in their last two league games this season. However, Wembley Stadium appears to be a stage designed specifically for Summerville to shine when it counts the most – and the 22-year-old does not require any additional motivation.

Summerville had told his 12-year-old brother that he aspired to play in the Premier League. When Summerville realised his dream in 2021, he couldn’t help but cry upon returning home. However, that was not the beginning of Summerville’s journey. There was no stunning winner at Anfield.

Summerville has played more games in the Championship in a single season than he has in the Premier League. Former manager Jesse Marsch often stated that ‘discipline, professionalism, and work ethic’ were a ‘huge component’ with Summerville, whether it was going to training early enough, putting in the effort in the gym, or paying attention in analysis sessions. In contrast, Farke has spoken of a more mature player who is “on it more or less every day on the training pitch.”

Clearly, for all of Summerville’s well-documented flare, there is a steeliness to reach the top, as former Feyenoord academy director Damien Hertog stated.

“He is really brave,” Hertog told Leeds Live. “He is a fighter. He wants to be the greatest, and as you get older, you learn to stand up for yourself, which is a positive thing. You need this to live and make it.”

Summerville has long need that quality. The Dutchman had always been one of the smaller players in his age group, but his intelligence, technical ability, and explosive pace made it irrelevant.

Summerville was always able to get out of a tight situation or change course at the last minute when he saw a difficulty coming. At the Mladen Ramljak International Memorial Tournament in Zagreb, this youngster even defeated Real Madrid at the youth level.

Richard Grootscholten, Feyenoord’s academy director at the time, was among those watching that afternoon in 2018 and still remembers the’same youngster collecting the ball and dribbling past three players who are trying to kick him’.

“It doesn’t matter if there are thousands of people in the stadium or people are negative towards him – he will do the same again,” he stated to Leeds Live. “That’s a special talent.”

Summerville was as reckless on the pitch as he was off it, when he left Feyenoord and everything he knew in Rotterdam at the age of 19 to join Leeds. It was a difficult transition at first, but Summerville refused to give up.

“I always admired that he is really doing what is in his head,” said Berger. “The way he perceives things is his truth. That’s why he sticks to his plan, which is a very powerful characteristic.”