He Is Struggling Big Time – Former Leeds United Star Pulls No Punches On Whites Player

Leeds paid a club record fee to sign Rutter in the January transfer window and some consider him to be one of the worst signings made by former director of football Victor Orta.

He has not yet shone in the Championship as well this season and was largely ineffective in Leeds’ 1-1 draw against West Brom on Friday night.

The Whites are hoping that the Frenchman will come good at some point, but Kilgallon insisted that it is clear that Rutter is visibly struggling on the pitch and does not look like someone who even believes in himself.

The former Leeds star pointed out that Rutter is trying when on the pitch, but conceded that he has not seen anything in him to feel a modicum of excitement about his potential.

Kilgallon said on BBC Radio Leeds when asked about Rutter: “The lad is struggling.

“You can even see it when he is out there [in his] body language. It’s not like that he isn’t trying but it doesn’t look like that he believes that he can actually do it.

“We saw it in a couple of headers, just a flick on and it’s almost like he was pretending to go and head it.

“That’s what it looked like to me and that’s when he ends up giving loads of fouls away because he is almost pretending to go and do it rather than really doing it.

“It just looks like he is really low on confidence.

“I don’t know how he is training.

“It is coming from the training? Has he not enjoyed the move here? Is the price tag affecting him?

“I have not seen anything really where you go hang on there is something in there like maybe he chops around two people, drives with it sort of 60 yards and gets a shot away.

“I have not seen that yet and he is struggling big time.”

Leeds are looking to bring in a striker before the window closes as Rutter continues to look poor in a white shirt.

The 19-year-old defender was the subject of loan to buy bid from the Italian side which would have allowed them to make the move permanent for just over £1.2 million. However, the Elland Road side have rejected this initial approach with their European counterparts forced to place the deal on hold.

The Norwegian left-back joined the club from Celtic in August 2021 and remained with the club until January 2023 where he linked up with Championship side Rotherham United on a six-month loan deal. Whilst at the Millers he made 13 appearances in the second tier as he aided his side to a 19th place finish keeping their distance from the relegation places.

He has featured twice this season for Daniel Falke’s side, on both occasions for just 45 minutes but was absent from the squad as they welcomed West Bromwich Albion due to concussion protocol ruling him out of the fixture. The left back position is contested by Hjelde and Sam Byram, with the latter seemingly preferred by the Leeds boss and specialist Junior Firpo injured and having difficulties maintaining his fitness for sustained periods. The club are currently not in a position to allow him to leave without signing a suitable replacement. Should they manage to prior to the window closing then the move will most likely be approved with the player heading to Italy.

It’s a clear case that the club do not at this time have sufficient cover with the player being considered expendable should a suitable replacement be found. It is likely therefore that the club will escalate their efforts to secure a new left sided defender with the current deal on hold. The question remains however, if the Italian side will wait for Leeds to sign cover, or if they will move onto other targets so they do not miss out on signing anyone.