Following Georginio Rutter’s exit a week ago, Leeds United have now sold eight players this summer along with the likes of Archie Gray, Glen Kamara and Crysencio Summerville.
With Leeds unable to gain promotion last season, it was always going to see a number of players depart. Leeds fans might not have expected as many as eight to be sold, with Leeds raking in almost £140m.
Marc Roca and Diego Llorente have been sold to Betis and Kris Klaesson moved to Polish side Rakow. The other permanent exit was that of 22-year-old Charlie Cresswell, leaving Leeds for French side Toulouse.
The England U21 defender rejoined Leeds in the summer of 2023 after a super loan spell at Millwall. He was expected to break his way into the Leeds side under Daniel Farke, and even signed a new contract.
Charlie Cresswell on making Toulouse ‘step up’ after Leeds exit
But just seven appearances throughout the entirety of 2023-24, and falling out with Farke over a lack of game time saw Cresswell endure a dismal season. The exact opposite of what has been expected of him.
It saw Cresswell join Toulouse for a £3.8m fee earlier this summer and the Thorp Arch academy product made an impressive debut last weekend. Cresswell won nine aerial duels, his side winning 22 in total.
On Sunday, he made his second appearance as Toulouse drew 1-1 with Nice and he told GFFN after the match that he believes joining Toulouse is a step up in quality from the Championship with Leeds.
“It’s a step up from the league that I had been playing in. I’m adapting and enjoying every minute. The difference in terms of atmosphere? The crowd are allowed to drink alcohol here, it’s very loud. It’s great.”
How French media reacted to Cresswell’s second Toulouse outing
Having starred in the first, Cresswell not only earned praise from French media but also from Archie Gray and Joe Gelhardt. On Sunday, his Toulouse side came from behind to draw with Nice away from home.
Cresswell was given a rating of 5/10 with player ratings notoriously harsher in France than they are on these shores. La Depeche say: “In two games, the Englishman has already shown great promise.
“We saw his quality in the air against Nantes, yesterday, he was aggressive and proved that he could be very interesting in attack, not hesitating to project himself. He is often the one sought after on set pieces.”
Leave a Reply