Leeds could land dream signing for Rutter in swoop for 33-goal star

Leeds United have made four additions to their first-team squad during the summer transfer window, since they failed to earn promotion to the Premier League last season.

The Whites lost 1-0 to Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley in May and are now preparing for a second season in the Championship.

Daniel Farke swooped to bring in Joe Rodon on a permanent deal from Tottenham Hotspur after his spell on loan at Elland Road during the 2023/24 campaign, with Archie Gray going to Spurs in a separate deal.

Leeds then signed Alex Cairns to provide back-up to Illan Meslier and Karl Darlow, central midfielder Joe Rothwell joined on a season-long loan move from Bournemouth, and Jayden Bogle has been snapped up from Sheffield United.

Farke may want to make additions to his attacking options over the coming weeks, though, after his side struggled badly in front of goal in the second tier.

The West Yorkshire side racked up 82 goals from a whopping 94.57 xG in the Championship, which shows that the manager’s side missed far too many high-quality chances.

Leeds’ finishing struggles last season

The Whites underperformed against their xG by a significant amount as a number of their players endured frustrating seasons when it came to finishing off high xG opportunities.

Three of Leeds’ four first-team striker options were within the top five Leeds players who underperformed against their xG, which illustrates a clear issue within the squad.

As you can see in the table above, Georginio Rutter and Patrick Bamford combined for an xG differential of -11.16. This was a staggering underperformance and may have been costly in the race for automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

Leeds finished third in the table and could have broken into the top two ahead of Ipswich Town or Leicester City, if they had matched their xG total, or even overperformed.

These statistics, therefore, suggest that Farke needs to bring in higher-quality finishers to bolster his squad in order to make the most of the high-quality opportunities that his team can create on a consistent basis.

With this in mind, Leeds must take notice of Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony’s plea for the club to sign Blackburn Rovers star Sammie Szmodics, to guarantee promotion to the top-tier.

The Ireland international could come in as a dream signing for Rutter at the top end of the pitch, to make the most of the Frenchman’s creativity.

Georginio Rutter’s creative genius

The former Hoffenheim whiz is a fantastic creative talent who can consistently split open opposition defences to create chances for his teammates in the final third.

In fact, Rutter ranked within the top 2% of forwards in the Championship for Expected Assisted Goals per 90 (0.29) and the top 2% for assists per 90 (0.39), which shows that he was one of the best players in his position when it came to creating for others.

Not many forwards in the division created high-quality opportunities as regularly as the left-footed sensation did for Leeds during the 2023/24 campaign.

As you can see in the table above, his teammates did not make the most of the ‘big chances’ he created as they only scored 15 times from 22 of them.

His remarkable ability to spot and play a pass that cuts through the heart of a defence makes him a constant menace to opposition teams, who have to find ways to isolate him in matches. But, as you can see in his statistics, defenders rarely manage to keep him quiet in the second tier.

This suggests that Rutter could benefit from having a striker alongside him who knows how to finish at an exceptional rate, as Bamford and Joseph – as shown by their xG underperformance – are yet to prove that they are that player.

However, Szmodics could be that player if you take into account his performances for Blackburn during the 2023/24 campaign, as he proved himself to be a lethal finisher.

Why Sammie Szmodics could be a dream signing for Georginio Rutter

The Irish forward racked up a staggering 33 goals in 48 matches in all competitions for Rovers, despite the majority of his appearances coming as an attacking midfielder.

This immediately suggests that the Blackburn star is a terrific attacker who can find the back of the net on a regular basis whilst playing for a Championship club.

In fact, Szmodics ranked within the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the division for non-penalty goals per 90 (0.62), which speaks to how frequently he found the target compared to his positional peers.

At the age of 28, Leeds would be signing a player who is in the prime years of his career and could come in to hit the ground running for them next season, rather than gambling on a young prospect or a striker from abroad who has no experience in the Championship.

As you can see in the table above, Szmodics scored 27 goals from 22.36 xG in the league and that is a staggering overperformance of more than four goals.

This shows that the Irishman, who was hailed as “incredible” by ex-boss Jon Dahl Tomasson, has the finishing acumen to make the most of the high-quality chances that his team are able to create for him week-in-week-out.

Therefore, he could be the dream signing to play alongside Rutter as the French magician could provide him with ample supply to be a lethal goalscorer for Leeds moving forward.

This is why Farke must now swoop to sign the Blackburn attacker to form a formidable pairing with Rutter in the final third at Elland Road next term.