Luis Sinisterra has certainly been one of the highlights for the season so far for Leeds United. That touch of class to lessen the pain of losing Raphinha this summer, a player who can craft a moment of brilliance out of nothing. With three goals he is our second highest scorer of the season. But in typical Leeds United fashion, an innocuous injury picked up against Fulham has turned out to be more serious than it first looked. A rare injury to the ligaments controlling the metatarsals, requires more scans and specialist treatment which will keep him out until after the World Cup.
With three games to go before the World Cup, two league games against Bournemouth and Spurs and the League Cup game against Wolves, there is a gap on the wing which needs to be filled. But it’s a gap which has been impressively filled by two of our up and coming starts in recent matches. Crysencio Summerville has been ripping it up for the U23s and U21s over the past few seasons, but the question was always whether he could make the step up to the Premier League. Lack of first team action saw him pushing a loan move last season but Summerville has now been given his chance and he has taken it with both hands.
Summerville got his first league start against Leicester City, not a great game to make your first start admittedly but he showed glimpses of what he can do. His first goal for Leeds game in the next game against Fulham, a consolation goal, overshadowed in the circumstances but his next goal would not be overshadowed, it would take centre stage. If there is any present a young footballer would want on their 21st birthday a late winner at Anfield would surely be up there. It was a goal that capped off a great performance, one in which he should arguably have got an assist as well, a performance which will surely see him start in place of Sinisterra against Bournemouth.
The cross for that goal was of course as provided by another of our budding start, Wilfried Gnonto. Gnonto was perhaps not the proven striker that we had hoped for this summer, but with six full Italy caps under his belt at the age of only 18 he is certainly an exciting prospect. The spin to get round Millner and Jones, teasing them before playing a pinpoint pass to Bamford in the area who laid the ball off to Summerville for the winner showed the composure and skill of a player beyond his years. Leeds fans had been itching to get a glimpse of their new ‘bright young thing’ and they were not disappointed.
The injury to Sinisterra is of course a disappointment but it is one which opens the door for two of our younger players to shine!
