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Crysencio Summerville... the young European champion who broke a Liverpool legend and put Bono into the history books

The Dutch winger has built an impressive career.

Crysencio Summerville is a name Al Hilal supporters are eagerly waiting for. They want him to create history with the club next season, just as he had done earlier in the English Championship.

The Dutch winger is moving closer to a switch to Al Hilal in the ongoing summer transfer window. He is arriving from West Ham United for 80 million euros, which makes him the second most expensive signing in the history of the Saudi league.

European champion at a young age

Summerville was born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, on 30 October 2001, into a family of Surinamese origin. He is 24 years old and mainly plays on the left wing.

He joined the Feyenoord academy at the age of six and remained there for 10 years, signing his first contract in March 2018 before he had even turned seventeen.

In that same year, Summerville inspired the Netherlands youth team to glory at the UEFA Under-17 European Championship. He scored against Germany in the group stage and then came on as a substitute in the final victory over Italy.

His return to the club after that tournament did not go smoothly. Feyenoord sent him out on loan to the Dutch second division and then to ADO Den Haag, before he returned in 2020.

Liverpool's record breaker

Summerville did not stay long at Feyenoord after coming back from ADO Den Haag. Leeds United noticed him and brought him into their under-23 side, then managed by Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa.

It took just one season for him to earn promotion to the first team. His strong displays then convinced him to extend his contract until 2026 at the start of the next campaign, 2022-2023.

That season became one of the standout periods of Summerville's career. He scored several decisive goals, none bigger than the 89th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield.

That goal ended Liverpool's historic 29-match unbeaten run at Anfield. It also gave Leeds United their first win over Liverpool at that ground since 2001.

Championship winners

Summerville's happiness came with a bitter ending. Leeds United were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season, and although some believed he would leave, he stayed on in the Championship.

The 2023-2024 campaign produced the best football of his career. He scored 21 goals and provided 10 assists, winning the Championship's best player award and a place in the season's best XI.

Leeds still could not return to the top flight. A 1-0 defeat to Southampton at Wembley in the play-off final ended their hopes, but Summerville himself went back to the Premier League.

West Ham United came calling after the season ended, paying 25 million pounds sterling to sign him. His first season with the club ended midway through, after a serious injury he suffered in January 2025 cut it short.

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World Cup explosion.. And the Bono moment

Somerville rediscovered his form in his second season, though. Despite West Ham's relegation, he scored 7 goals and provided 5 assists to earn a place in the Netherlands squad for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

His reputation grew strongly at the tournament. The Netherlands were knocked out in the round of 32, but Somerville still managed two goals and two assists in the four matches he played.

The most memorable moment for the Dutch forward, however, came in the penalty shootout against Morocco in that round of 32. Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved his spot-kick while standing still, refusing to dive.

There was widespread praise for the Moroccan after that unusual save, especially after he repeated the feat at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Here is the strange twist. Bounou's famous save knocked the Netherlands out of the 2026 World Cup, and now he will line up alongside Somerville at Al-Hilal. Yesterday's rivals can truly become today's teammates.