Former Leeds United forward Crysencio Summerville has revealed the impact one former Leeds United hero had on his career at Elland Road before he joined West Ham.
Crysencio Summerville is preparing to return to Elland Road for the first time since leaving the club to join West Ham at the end of the 2023/24 season.
However, his move to the London Stadium has not gone entirely to plan, as Jarrod Bowen admitted that West Ham are severely lacking confidence as they battle against relegation.
Summerville was a firm favourite at Leeds, as his 20 goals and nine assists helped fire the Whites to the 2023/24 Championship play-off final, where they suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Southampton.
Now, the Dutch winger has opened up on the unseen impact that former Leeds favourite Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had on his early years with the club.
Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
Crysencio Summerville shares unseen Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink influence
Speaking in an interview with the West Ham website, Summerville explained that Hasselbaink contacted him early in his Leeds career behind the scenes to offer him some advice.
According to Summerville, he remains in contact with Hasselbaink on social media, as both former Leeds men share Dutch heritage.
Summerville said: “I’m also really proud of being Dutch, and some of my biggest role models growing up had a similar background to me. Clarence Seedorf is someone I really looked up to.
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“He was born in Suriname and went on to be a legend for the Netherlands. I think he deserves more respect than he gets, actually, because he won pretty much everything there is to win as a player.
“Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is someone else I admire. When I was at Leeds, he reached out to me and gave me some feedback, and since then, we’ve connected on social media as well. The Leeds fans called me ‘Jimmy’ at first, which I was confused about until I realised it was after him!”
Although it is nice to read of Hasselbaink’s influence on Summerville’s career, it also shows that the West Ham winger is not a fan of Bronski Beat, as his nickname is inspired by the musician Jimmy Somerville, not Hasselbaink.
15 Sep 1998: Jimmy Hasselbaink of Leeds in action in the UEFA CUP against Maritimo at Elland Road in Leeds, England. Mandatory Credit: Ben Radford /Allsport
Leeds United’s last five Premier League meetings with West Ham
Having fallen to a dispiriting defeat against Brentford, West Ham have a short turnaround before their trip to Elland Road, which has left Nuno Espirito Santo on the back foot with his team preparation.
However, he can take comfort from West Ham’s strong recent track record at Elland Road, with Leeds’ last home win against the Hammers coming in 2005.
Leeds’ last five Premier League meetings against West Ham:
- 21/05/2023 – West Ham 3-1 Leeds
- 04/03/2022 – Leeds 2-2 West Ham
- 16/01/2022 – West Ham 2-3 Leeds
- 25/09/2021 – Leeds 1-2 West Ham
- 08/03/2021 – West Ham 2-0 Leeds
West Ham have a good recent track record against Leeds overall, having won three of the previous five meetings between the two sides in the Premier League, according to 11v11.
Jack Harrison was the hero in Leeds’ last win over West Ham, as he scored a hat trick to seal a 3-2 win in January 2022.
