Looking at the list of Leeds United's record sales paints the picture that the grass isn't always greener away from Elland Road.

Raphinha, a man who's gone to a different stratosphere at Barcelona, somewhat bucks the trend, yet many of the club's recent, high-profile departures have found life tough in fresh surroundings.

Kalvin Phillips is the most obvious example, while Archie Gray is still waiting to really nail down a regular role at Tottenham Hotspur, even while remaining highly rated by manager Roberto De Zerbi.

There's also the case of Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville, neither player perhaps hitting the heights that were expected when they flew the nest in 2024.

How close Leeds came to re-signing Summerville this summer

Having made his mark in moments in the Premier League in 2022/23, it was the following campaign where Summerville truly exploded in a Leeds shirt, following the drop into the Championship.

Under the guidance of Daniel Farke, the fleet-footed speedster was electric that season alongside Rutter, scoring 19 goals as the Whites so nearly secured promotion.

The Dutchman also chipped in with nine assists and created 17 'big chances', while ranking third in the division for successful dribbles completed, as well as fourth for key passes made.

A bumper £25m exit followed to West Ham United that summer, yet Summerville was a bystander to proceedings that first year, starting just seven league games for the Hammers.

You could argue it wasn't until this calendar year that he truly made his mark at the London Stadium, all five of his Premier League goals last season coming in 2026, even as the east London side fell to relegation.

That drop back into the second tier had sparked claims that a potential return to Leeds was on the cards, although nothing concrete ever emerged, with rivals Manchester United also in the mix for his signature.

A fine World Cup boosted his status even further, yet for all the talk of a marquee move, the 24-year-old has instead sought out the Saudi riches, a sad indictment of the modern game and a real waste of his talent.

Alas, that is his decision to make, while for Leeds, there is still that void to be filled in terms of a truly explosive attacking star at Elland Road.

How Leeds could finally replace Summerville this month

Farke and co do boast the likes of Wilfried Gnonto and Dan James, yet both men were on the periphery last season, starting just ten games between them.

Harry Wilson has since been added into the mix, but the Welshman's game is more centred on creativity and his innate finishing prowess, rather than his physical attributes.

In terms of someone who might take Summerville's place in that sense is Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk, the Ukrainian looking all but certain to leave Stamford Bridge on loan before the deadline.

There have been more ambitious links to the likes of Rafael Leao, but Mudryk feels like a real concrete target, with TEAMtalk reporting that Leeds remain in talks with the Blues regarding a potential deal.

An initial loan bid has already been knocked back, but negotiations continue amid the search to find the 25-year-old regular game time, after an extended spell on the sidelines amid a doping investigation.

He's now available for selection again, and despite featuring in pre-season for Xabi Alonso's side, he is no longer part of first-team training as a move away edges closer.

Of course, considering how little he's played in recent years, this would be a gamble as far as Leeds are concerned, yet striking a loan deal does take away a sense of risk, it must be said.

Let's not forget, this was a player whom Arsenal were chasing too back in January 2023, the then-Shakhtar Donetsk sensation ultimately heading to west London instead for an initial fee of £62m.

His debut cameo against Liverpool away at Anfield still sticks out in the memory, having been such a handful with his directness and explosive, breathtaking speed.

Hailed subsequently as a "frightening" prospect by Rio Ferdinand, Mudryk was sadly one of many to fall by the wayside in the Todd Boehly Chelsea era, even before his recent exile.

At his best, however, as he showed at Shakhtar, this is a Summerville-style talent who can torture defences when he wants to, a true match-winner and game-changer in every sense of the word.

In just 44 games for his former employers, he scored and assisted 29 goals in all competitions, memorably terrorising Celtic in the Champions League after scoring home and away during the 2022/23 group stage.

Even as recently as 2024/25, he had shown flickers of life for Chelsea, albeit in the Conference League, scoring and assisting six goals in four games, while averaging 2.8 key passes and 1.5 successful dribbles per game.

That type of form, even if it's a small sample size, certainly compares favourably to the type of numbers Summerville was putting up in the Championship at Leeds, with Mudryk another lightning-fast forward who could wreak havoc on either flank.

He'll be desperate to make up for lost time, and at 25, there's still plenty left in the tank, you'd have to say.