Daniel Farke on how Leeds United got the best out of Georginio Rutter after miserable start to Elland Road career

Rutter had a miserable first six months at Elland Road following his £35m move from Hoffenheim in January 2023, something he talks about in this weekend's exclusive interview with The Yorkshire Post.

Signed to kick Leeds out of relegation danger, the Whites dropped out of the Championship without their record signing scoring a goal.

It did not bode well for the flair player as he contemplated a season in the notoriously rugged second tier but with getting their money back – or anything like it – not a realistic prospect, Leeds had little choice but to try and unlock his potential.

Yet another new manager, Daniel Farke, was able to do that, and has been rewarded with eight goals and 15 assists that have taken the team to Sunday's Championship play-off final.

"Communication was quite important, to listen to what he said," explained Farke, once a striker himself. "Sometimes you feel I have to give message after message after message, sometimes it's important to let the player speak, to listen and get a feeling for what the problem is. That was key.

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"And then to work with him and communicate about finding good solutions and sell your plan and your ideas to the player.

"Then it's not so much about talking, it's about acting – how you work with the players and how you interact with them on the training pitch and during the games. Then it comes down to hard work."

Rutter is just one of a number of young players Farke has successfully unlocked the potential in this season, but he is at pains to point out it is they, not him, who have done the bulk of the work.

"I would never praise myself for developing a player," he said. "I will always, even with younger players, praise the players because we can work with them, we can bring them close to the door and develop them and try to help them but they have to make the step through the door. They have to take on all this good advice and take the messages into account.

"Once a player like Georgie, who had a difficult start to life (at Elland Road) develops in this way – he had some more challenging spells this season, especially due to injuries but overall he's had a fantastic season so you have to say all credit goes to him.

"Hopefully he can deliver in one more game."

See this weekend's Yorkshire Post for our full-length interview with Rutter.