How Crysencio Summerville became West Ham’s saviour: The ‘showtime’ promise he’s living up to, a vision board, World Cup dream and how ‘the most delightful, skillful feet’ are finally producing – ‘he wants to attack the goal every time’

If asked to put £1 on which player was most likely to drag West Ham to Premier League survival, you would likely have picked the wrong winger.

The safe money was on Jarrod Bowen. Captain, talisman and, until recently, their main source of goals and that most precious of commodities: hope.

And yet it’s been Crysencio Summerville charging down the opposite flank with six goals in his last seven games, to give Nuno Espirito Santo’s side a puncher’s shot of staying up. It was Summerville who came off the bench to spare West Ham’s blushes at Burton Albion in the FA Cup.

If he can put Bournemouth to the sword on Saturday, and Nottingham Forest lose by a distance to Liverpool, West Ham could end the weekend outside the bottom three for the first time since November 30. They were seven points adrift when Summerville started his dramatic upturn in form.

But before his strike against QPR in the FA Cup, Summerville had one goal in his first 38 games since joining from Leeds in August 2024 for £25million. For nine months he sat on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, suffered in Graham Potter’s first game in charge just over a year ago.

Those who know the 24-year-old well say he feels he must make up for lost time, not just to show West Ham fans why the club splashed out on him but also with a World Cup coming up this summer. During his recovery, Summerville made a bold prediction of what was to come: ‘When I’m back, it’s going to be showtime.’ The curtain has risen at last.

The Dutchman bailed out the Hammers at League One Burton Albion last week, scoring an extra-time winner to take his side into the FA Cup fifth round

‘He just had the most delightful, skilful feet I’ve seen in years,’ former England and West Ham defender Chris Powell tells Daily Mail Sport of the first time he saw a 17-year-old Summerville, while assistant to Alan Pardew at ADO Den Haag.

‘I’ve been fortunate enough to see some top wingers in my time – he was one of the most naturally talented I’ve seen. The way he received the ball, his balance, his understanding of where the defender was and where he wanted to put him. He was always in control.

‘The team was struggling but the players felt that he was the one who was going to get them out of trouble. He was a bright, shining light among the group.’

They loved him at Den Haag, where he was on loan from Feyenoord, and Summerville gave Powell his shirt when Leeds played Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough a few years ago.

Summerville grew up in the tough port of South Rotterdam as the second-youngest of eight children. He comes from a Surinamese background, his mum Jasmina made sure he studied and truck driver dad Errol coached at local club RVVV Noorderkwartier, where Summerville started playing football aged four.

Clarence Seedorf, born in Suriname, was one of Summerville’s inspirations while Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink gave him advice while he was at Leeds. Summerville thought the fans calling him ‘Jimmy’ was in reference to their former striker and his compatriot and not, in fact, to the Scottish 80s electro-pop star Jimmy Somerville.

Summerville is in touch with most of his former coaches, including former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt, who worked with him at the Feyenoord academy. It was Kuyt who castigated the young Summerville for turning up late to training and not always giving his all. At Leeds, whom he joined from Feyenoord in 2020, it was never his football that was going to be the issue.

‘A big factor for him is discipline, professionalism and work ethic,’ said his then-Leeds manager Jesse Marsch. Summerville endured a slow start there, too. He never made a league start under Marcelo Bielsa and asked to go out on loan.

‘I’ve been fortunate enough to see some top wingers in my time – he was one of the most naturally talented I’ve seen,’ says Summerville’s former coach Chris Powell

Summerville struggled initially at Leeds but burst onto the scene with a last-gasp winner away to Liverpool in 2022 that secured a first win at Anfield in 21 years

Summerville (right) is in touch with most of his former coaches, including former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt (left), who worked with him at the Feyenoord academy

But like at West Ham, his time came. A last-gasp winner at Liverpool, in only his second Premier League start, secured Leeds’ first victory at Anfield in 21 years and ended the Reds’ 29-match unbeaten home streak. He scored in both his next two starts against Bournemouth and Spurs, then hit 19 goals the next season and was the Championship Player of the Year.

West Ham came calling and, by then, it was a far more mature, eager young man who arrived under Julen Lopetegui.

‘He was a very quiet guy when he arrived but very assertive,’ one of his West Ham coaches, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘He said that even though he was arriving from the Championship, he was aiming for big things but in a very humble way.

‘He was always very dedicated to his learning, knowing that he had bags of quality but understanding that he isn’t the finished article. He was always asking for extras after training. There would always be days where he would ask for 10-15 minutes to practise his speciality, cutting inside to then have a shot aiming for the back post.’ Summerville’s goal at Burton was the latest example of this trademark finish.

‘He was always asking for video about his actions in the game, what would be best for him technically and tactically to improve in that moment,’ the coach adds. ‘Then he’d apply it immediately in the next game.

‘It was always going to be difficult to find a way into the starting line-up but he didn’t mind. He was going to be an important player for the club.’

Summerville keeps a vision board – a collage of pictures, words and phrases – to keep track of his aspirations and before the start of the year he wrote down his list of goals. He keeps them secret but you imagine, with his exploits in the last few weeks, that he’s gone some way to ticking a few off. Those around West Ham have noticed an extra spring in his step in recent weeks.

No one has attempted more dribbles in the Premier League since the start of the year than Summerville, or more dribbles that ended in a shot or a chance created. His combined seven goals and assists in all competitions since the turn of the year is bettered only among Premier League players by Cole Palmer and Viktor Gyokeres.

His combined seven goals and assists in all competitions since the turn of the year is bettered only among Premier League players by Cole Palmer and Viktor Gyokeres

Those around West Ham have noticed an extra spring in his step in recent weeks

‘He wants to attack the goal and the player every single time,’ says Powell. ‘He’s not about being safe, he’s about being creative and being bright and being alive. Fans love those sorts of players but, equally, managers do too when there’s an end product. You’re seeing that now.’

It’s perhaps no surprise that Nuno is finally getting the best out of him. He’s long been an admirer and tried to sign Summerville in July while at Nottingham Forest to replace Anthony Elanga. The Dutchman had no desire to leave. ‘I truly believe that there’s a lot of things yet to come from him,’ said Nuno. ‘He’s been doing well, amazing, helping the team, not only with his goals and assists, but always also with his defensive work. I don’t see a ceiling.’

Nuno’s system has helped, too, with West Ham now playing with recognised strikers like Callum Wilson, Taty Castellanos or the now-injured Pablo Felipe dropping in to hold up the ball while Summerville spins in behind.

Way back in 2022, Summerville told Daily Mail Sport that ‘my goal is 2026’, and his desire to make the Dutch squad for this summer’s World Cup has been key in his revival. Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman is believed to be keeping a close eye on him ahead of March friendlies against Norway and Ecuador.

‘It’s great that he has a chance of being in the World Cup squad,’ says Powell. ‘If you think about the Netherlands over the years, they have always had those wide players. You think of Arjen Robben, Marc Overmars, all the way back to Bryan Roy. Summers is in that mould.’