By George Overhill

5th Apr, 2022 | 11:00am

Leeds United have Raphinha replacement ready after Crysencio Summerville hat-trick

Leeds United may not have to worry so much about potentially losing Raphinha to Barcelona if Crysencio Summerville has has say.

The 20-year-old winger scored a wonderful hat-trick yesterday (4 April) for the Whites’ under-23s side in a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace.

The Dutchman is one of a number of young talents at Elland Road who struggled to establish themselves in the first team under Marcelo Bielsa after making their debuts.

He even attempted to push through a loan move away during the January transfer window in search of more regular first team football, but the failure of that to come off has proven to be the United age group side’s gain, and could yet be a boon for Jesse Marsch.

Relegation is looking increasingly like it is fading in the rear view mirror, so chances for Summerville to add to his eight appearances for the senior squad could be on the horizon.

Speculation around where Brazil international Raphinha will be playing next season has been huge in recent weeks, with the La Liga’s giants going public about their desire to bring him to the Camp Nou.

A considerable transfer fee looks to be the primary stumbling block, but with Leeds struggling at the bottom of the table for most of the season the 25-year-old is expected to make a step up sooner rather than later.

As the team’s best player for the majority of a bad season that has caused some concern for fans, but Summerville looks like he could be ready to make the step up.

Just as Joe Gelhardt has started to ease the blow of losing Patrick Bamford to injury after injury, the young winger can do the same if Raphinha moves on.

Marsch was in attendance at Elland Road to see the stand-out performance so it would be no surprise to see the former Feyenoord player feature for the first time since the American’s arrival in the coming weeks.

The attacker has played, and scored, for his national side at every age group between under-16 and under-21, and has now scored seven times for the United under-23s, with every finish of his hat-trick this week impressive.

A £60million-plus fee for Raphinha and a step up from Summerville would be a deal the club can’t refuse.