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Brighton have activated a £40m release clause in Leeds forward Georginio Rutter’s contract.
Leeds signed Rutter in January of last year on a five-and-a-half-year contract from Hoffenheim for a club-record deal, which could rise to £35m.
Rutter played 28 minutes in Wednesday night’s 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat against Middlesbrough at Elland Road.
The 22-year-old scored eight goals and assisted 16 in a total of 51 appearances last season as Leeds missed out on an immediate Premier League return after relegation.
Rutter’s sale would become a record for a player in the Championship who has not just been relegated if it goes through. The current record sale out of the Championship remains Romeo Lavia from Southampton, after they were relegated in 2023, to Chelsea for £58m.
The Frenchman’s departure would be another major loss for Leeds who have lost Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville to Tottenham and West Ham respectively.
Rutter could become Brighton’s sixth signing
Rutter could become Brighton’s sixth summer signing as new boss Fabian Hurzeler prepares for his first campaign in charge.
Brighton on Wednesday announced the signing of 20-year-old Brajan Gruda from Bundesliga side Mainz in a £25m deal.
Gruda joined Yankuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, Ibrahim Osman, Malick Junior Yalcouyé and Amario Cozier-Duberry on the south coast.
On Gruda, Hurzeler said: “I’m really pleased to get the opportunity to work with Brajan. I saw the big impact he made last season in the Bundesliga and he’s a player I admire a lot.
“The Premier League will be a different challenge but I’m looking forward to working with Brajan and helping to develop his big potential.”
Milner: Hurzeler can be the Premier League’s new Klopp
There is very little James Milner has not experienced or encountered over the course of a professional career that has recently entered its third decade, but playing under a manager seven years his junior is one of them.
Now 38, Milner is one of the division’s oldest serving players, and a stalwart of the game. Comparatively, Brighton’s new boss Fabian Hurzeler, at 31 years of age, is the league’s youngest-ever permanent head coach.
The American-born German will be the first manager to take charge of a Premier League game having been born – in February 1993 – after the competition started.
“There is a good mix of the last manager [Roberto De Zerbi], who was build-up orientated, but maybe a bit of Jurgen Klopp thrown in.
“In terms of how we defend especially, the focus is on high intensity, counter-pressing and quick reactions to turnovers. The manager has put his own stamp and intensity on things, he wants us to play front foot with and without the ball.”