Why Chelsea will support Southampton in Championship playoff final

Tom Weber

• Updated: 21 May 2024 10:00 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea will firmly back Southampton over Leeds at Wembley - but it is not just because of Mauricio Pochettino's Saints past.

A gruelling season in England's second tier is coming to an end with two of last season's relegated Premier League sides squaring up at Wembley to decide who will join Leicester City and Ipswich Town in the top flight next term.

Daniel Farke's Leeds United will face Russell Martin's Southampton in what could be the latter's final game in charge of the Saints. FootballTransfers exclusively revealed at the beginning of April that Brighton have held talks with the former Norwich defender over succeeding Roberto de Zerbi.

Aptly termed the most lucrative game in all of football, the Championship playoff final will have major implications for the summer transfer market. One of the sides who will be keenly watching this fixture will be Chelsea and the Blues will throw their weight behind Southampton.

This isn't due to Mauricio Pochettino formerly coaching the South Coast side but rather because of Crysencio Summerville.

Chelsea want Dutch sensation

Chelsea are just one of the many, many sides keeping tabs on breakout star Crysencio Summerville, who has enjoyed an absolutely absurd campaign for Leeds.

The former Feyenoord prospect netted a whopping 19 goals and recorded nine assists during the regular season and also scored in the 4-0 semi-final demolition of Norwich last week.

If Leeds manage to win promotion, they will back themselves to be able to keep hold of the Dutchman and tie him down to fresh terms, as first called by FootballTransfers in early April.

Therefore, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and all the other teams interested in Summerville will be rooting for Southampton to prevail in order to have a better chance of signing the Championship's Player of the Season. The 22-year-old could command as much as €50 million this summer.