Who is Leeds United target Million Manhoef: Crysencio Summerville’s £10m-rated replacement?
Leeds are looking at Million Manhoef as a Crysencio Summerville successor
Million Manhoef is a 22-year-old Dutch winger currently starring for Championship side Stoke City, whose impressive performances for the Potters have alerted a myriad of clubs including divisional rivals Leeds United.
On Wednesday, TEAMtalk’s own Fraser Gillan reported that Leeds United are among a number of teams tracking the Dutch winger who only joined the Staffordshire-based club on deadline day in January, but has quickly asserted himself as one of the club’s standout players.
Manhoef joined Stoke for a fee of around €4m (£3.4m) for Dutch side Vitesse where he had spent his entire professional career before departing for England.
Vitesse finished rock bottom of the Eredivisie last campaign on a disappointing six points, though this was in part due to the 18-point deduction the club sustained due to ongoing financial troubles, which is part of the reason why Manhoef left for a relatively low fee.
The 22-year-old contributed to four goals and one assist in 14 Championship appearances in the latter stages of last season, including two goals on the final day in a 4-0 thumping over Bristol City as the Potters narrowly avoided relegation.
Manhoef’s career so far
Born and raised in Holland, Manhoef is of Surinamese and Indonesian descent and is the son of former mixed martial arts and kickboxer Melvin Manhoef.
The winger himself took up kickboxing at a young age to follow in his father’s footsteps, but instead opted to pursue a career in football.
Manhoef played for various youth teams in Holland before eventually joining the youth system of Vitesse in 2016 at 15 years old, where he progressed through the ranks and made his debut with the first team in 2020 in a 2-1 away defeat to Ajax.
In the 2022/23 season, Manhoef established himself as one of the brightest talents in Dutch football as he scored nine goals and assisted a further five in 33 league appearances for Vitesse from the wing, earning him their Player of the Season.
Due to a financial crisis within the club, Vitesse was forced to sell Manhoef to English Championship side Stoke City for €4m (£3.4m) on deadline day in January 2024.
The Dutchman has since gone on to establish himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet at the bet365 Stadium, contributing to four goals and an assist in 14 appearances last season to help the Potters stave off the threat of relegation.
Manhoef has started the 2024/25 strongly, providing the assist to another former Vitesse player Lewis Baker on the opening week of the Championship season in Stoke’s 1-0 victory over Coventry City.
The Dutchman has represented the country of his birth at U16, U17 and U21 levels, the latter of which he has appeared on 12 occasions and scored four goals.
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What is Manhoef like as a player?
Manhoef is the type of player to get you on the edge of your seat, with his best work coming when he has the ball at his feet and he can drive at the opposition.
Diminutive in stature, Manhoef is extremely agile and quick, with his ability to keep the ball under control whilst taking on a defender makes him a nightmare to defend against.
Able to play on the left wing, it is on the right wing where Manhoef shines, with his ability to cut in on his favoured left foot before unleashing an effort or picking a pass becoming a trademark of his game.
Million Manhoef’s Stoke stats so far
To get a better understanding of what type of player Manhoef is, we will be looking at numbers gathered by Fbref and comparing him to the other attacking midfielders and wingers in the Championship last season.
Although he only played just over 800 minutes in the Championship last season, Manhoef ranked in the 99th percentile for shots per 90 minutes, taking an average of 4.08 a game, emphasising his self-confidence to have an effort at goal.
Not only is the Dutchman extremely efficient at getting shots off, but he also ranked in the 94th percentile for npxG (non-penalty xG) per 90 minutes, averaging an impressive 0.35 npxG p/90 last season.
Another area where Manhoef shines is his ability to carry the ball into the penalty area, where he averaged 2.43 carries in the opposition box p/90 last season, comfortably putting himself in the 93rd percentile.
Moreover, the winger averaged 5.29 attempted take-ons p/90 last season which put him in the 89th percentile, however, he was only successful 1.76 times p/90 which could only put him in the 81st percentile.
An area where Manhoef can improve is his creativity. Although not a bad creator by any means, Manhoef averaged 0.18 xA (expected assists) per 90 minutes last campaign, which put him in the 74th percentile.
Although this is a small sample size in comparison to the rest of the wingers in the Championship who will have played far more games than the Dutchman, his numbers are extremely encouraging.
Given the fact that he was playing in a side which ultimately finished just six points clear of the relegation zone, is only 22 years old and had never previously played for another club before Vitesse, let alone in another country, his underlying stats are very promising.
Manhoef still has a way to go to become a more complete player, but he has shown he has all the raw ability to become one of the very best wingers in the Championship and has the pedigree to play in a top-five league soon.
Where will Manhoef go?
Despite only joining Stoke just over eight months ago, Manhoef is already attracting interest from numerous clubs, with Leeds United being the most prominent of those.
The Whites have already seen Glen Kamara, Luis Sinisterra, Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville depart Elland Road this summer in multi-million-pound moves, with Georginio Rutter also set to leave for Brighton and rumours continue circling around Wilfried Gnonto.
This leaves Daniel Farke’s side short on options in attacking areas and with around two weeks to go until the window closes, this leaves the club scrambling to bring in replacements, with Manhoef on that shortlist.
A 3-3 draw on the opening game week at home to Portsmouth followed by a 3-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup on Wednesday and a goalless stalemate with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday has proven to be a less than ideal start for last season’s play-off finalists, who will hope to add to the squad soon.
Following the recent takeover by the 49ers as well as the cash influx from departing players, Leeds will certainly not be short of money, meaning they could very easily match what Stoke will demand for Manhoef.
However, the Dutch youth international is under contract at Stoke until the summer of 2027 and will feel no obligation to sell given their improved financial position.
TEAMtalk understands that the Potters value Manhoef at upwards of £10m, though it may take an even higher fee for the Staffordshire-based club to consider selling to a divisional rival.
Leeds’ interest in Norwich winger Jonathan Rowe remains intact, though with Marseille in the race for Rowe’s signature, The Whites may have to look elsewhere for their Summerville replacement.