Georginio Rutter says Leeds United supporters have helped him achieve a childhood dream this season.
Rutter has enjoyed an excellent first full season at Elland Road having initially struggled following his club record arrival from Hoffenheim in January 2023.
The 22-year-old was handed just one league start by the quartet of managers he worked under, with Sam Allardyce even publicly stating that he wouldn’t be considering him as an option to start.
Following his appointment in the summer, Daniel Farke backed him to become a key man at Leeds and told 49ers Enterprises to reject any bids for him, including from Borussia Dortmund.
Rutter admitted that over last summer his confidence on the pitch had totally hit rock bottom, but he has very much been able to find that again this season.
Rutter says he has achieved childhood dream at Leeds
Having scored six goals and provided 15 assists during the regular season, Rutter was named in the Championship TOTS last month alongside teammates Ethan Ampadu and Crysencio Summerville.
Only Leif Davis created more goals than Rutter across the entire division, while Leicester City’s Abdul Fatawu was the one player to make more big chances than him.
With that in mind, he has clearly been a pivotal part of Farke’s attack over the last 10 months and has managed to establish himself as a fan favourite at Elland Road.
But it’s not just his performances on the pitch which have helped him do that, but also his bubbly personality off it. He always comes across brilliantly in interviews and Farke says he is always one of the loudest in and around the training ground.
Rutter’s name is often heard being chanted during matches on the terraces, and speaking in an interview with ITV Sport, the Frenchman says that is only something he could dream of happening as a child.
He said: “Yeah they help me a lot. Everybody is going to be happy when everyone sings your name, so I am very happy. When I was a kid this was my dream for everybody to sing your name so I am very happy for that and if we can give something back on Sunday, it would be great.”
Rutter has overcome weight of record transfer fee
Following his lack of impact immediately after his arrival, much was made of the fee that Leeds decided to fork out to sign.
Ultimately, though, Rutter did not set the price and it wasn’t his fault that Victor Orta paid such big bucks to ensure he moved to the club.
It is nice to see that Rutter has managed to remove the weight of that price tag off his shoulders, having been something that was always in the back of his mind.
He said: “You know it’s hard [dealing with record fee] when you come from a country with no pressure. Here, there is pressure you know. It’s the best football in the world, it’s like the NBA for football. It’s hard when you come for a big price but you know, I choose this sport so I have to be ready for that.”