A former Leeds United star has opened up on his record move to Elland Road and his struggles to adapt to the Premier League.

A former Leeds United star has admitted he was ‘not ready’ to face life in the Premier League after making a big money move to Elland Road.

This week marks the third anniversary of Georginio Rutter’s reported £35m club record move to Leeds as the Whites looked to the former France Under-21 international to boost their hopes of fighting a successful battle against relegation from the Premier League. Rutter had impressed with Bundesliga club Hoffenheim with 19 goal involvements in 64 appearances for the German outfit - but he struggled to adapt to life at Elland Road and failed to find the net during his first 11 Premier League appearances.

After remaining with Leeds in the aftermath of their drop into the Championship, Rutter scored seven goals and provided 15 assists in 48 league appearances as Daniel Farke’s men missed out on an immediate return to the top flight - but Rutter would make that jump as his form earned him a big money move to Brighton and Hove Albion. Speaking over the weekend, the 23-year-old has reflected on his initial move to Elland Road and admitted he had questioned if he was capable of competing in the Premier League - despite describing himself as ‘happy’ with the deal.

He told the Premier League’s Big Interview: “Honestly, I don’t know if it was the right club for me because at that time in January, I was at Hoffenheim. We were at a training camp in Portugal, and Leeds called us and me in my head, I was like, I don’t think I’m going to go there.

“I remember they said to me, ‘No, it’s not a joke, they want you now.’ When you speak about football now, Hoffenehim buy me for less than one million, Leeds gave 40 million. I said okay, I’m going to think about it. It was a bit difficult at that time because in my head, I was not ready for that. So I signed, I said okay, I sign, and I was happy because it’s the Premier League and everything, but for me, I was not ready, honestly, I was not ready.”

Most difficult

Jesse Marsch spent just under a year in charge of Leeds United. | GEOFF CADDICK/AFP via Getty Images

placeholder image — Jesse Marsch spent just under a year in charge of Leeds United. | GEOFF CADDICK/AFP via Getty Images

Rutter questioned the decision-making process made under a number of different Leeds managers during his time at Elland Road as he struggled to impress under Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce prior to the Whites relegation into the Championship just under three years ago.

He said: “They pay me a lot of money, I say now I have to give everything to this club. And when I came there, there was pressure straight away, because Jesse Marsch wanted me, signed me. You imagine it’s like, Jesse Marsch comes to you and says Saturday, Patrick Bamford’s going to play, and Monday you’re going to play against Manchester United. That’s okay, I go home, Jesse Marsch sacked.

“Another manager came. Don’t play. I don’t play (under) Javi Gracia, I don’t play. They put me with the under-21’s, and at that time, you have two choices: you have the choice to give up and say it’s done, or you say in your head, walk for you, and that was the most difficult for me. I couldn’t do anything after another manager (Allardyce) came, and yeah, I don’t play. When I play it was 6-0 for the other team or 4-0, and I played ten minutes, and I said, first of all, I’m not happy. I’m not happy, and they don’t want me because I don’t play, so that is the first six months at Leeds.”

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