Not that long ago, Lutsharel Geertruida was a regular in the Bayern Munich rumour mill. In the summer of 2023 and again the following winter, the Dutchman was seen as a transfer option in Munich.
Hardly a week seemed to pass without another update on the German record champions' supposed interest. As is well known, the move never happened, even though a transfer at either point would certainly have made sense. Geertruida offers a player profile rarely found at the top level of European football.
By the start of 2024, and still only 23, he had already mastered almost the full range of defensive skills. Even more so than Benjamin Pavard, whose Bayern exit came at exactly that time. At centre-back, right-back or in holding midfield, Geertruida could be used almost anywhere when it came to stopping goals. He also brought huge physicality and game intelligence. But nothing ever became concrete at Säbener Strasse. Instead, the German record champions went in a different direction. First, then coach Thomas Tuchel got the defender he wanted in Min-jae Kim, before Eric Dier and Sacha Boey strengthened the defence six months later.
Geertruida saw out the season at his boyhood club Feyenoord Rotterdam and still ended up in the Bundesliga afterwards. RB Leipzig put €20 million on the table. What first looked like a real bargain quickly proved, from the Saxony club's point of view, to be a mistake. Geertruida has now even picked up the label of a transfer flop.
Why did Lutsharel Geertruida fail at RB Leipzig?
Two years on from his arrival, the now 26-year-old is on the sidelines. His debut season was mixed at best. Geertruida made 35 appearances and quickly nailed down a regular place, but lost it around the turn of the year and even spent some matches on the bench throughout. The drop came less from serious mistakes than from clashing ideas. Sharper critics would even call it a complete misjudgement by Leipzig.
Within a few weeks, it had already become clear that Geertruida simply could not function in the system of then RB coach Marco Rose. His style of play, drifting infield from right-back into central areas, was not wanted. He also failed to meet the demand for positionally disciplined defensive work out wide. Any hope that the adjustment problems would fade with time came to nothing. After a mixed first half of the season, the early praise had completely faded.
Even Rose's departure at the end of the season did not earn Geertruida a second chance under his successor Ole Werner. Instead, Leipzig worked out a fairly face-saving loan deal with ambitious Premier League newcomers AFC Sunderland. It worked. In England, Geertruida made 30 appearances and certainly managed to impress.
Getty ImagesNo future at RB Leipzig: what next for Lutsharel Geertruida?
Yet the agreed purchase option, worth the same €20 million that had gone to the Dutch port city two years earlier, was too expensive for the Saints. Presumably that was also because Geertruida did not fully establish himself as an undisputed first-choice starter. Even so, he earned a World Cup nomination, while prominent players such as Jeremie Frimpong (Liverpool FC) and Matthijs de Ligt (Manchester United) were not considered by former Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman. In Leipzig, they were therefore probably already rubbing their hands. But the rise in market value that so often follows a World Cup nomination never came. Geertruida did not play a single minute.
Now, a few weeks later, it is highly questionable whether Leipzig will get away lightly and recover the Geertruida millions. According to consistent media reports, clubs in the Premier League and Saudi Arabia are interested, but no concrete negotiations have taken place yet. Instead, another loan looks increasingly likely. PSV Eindhoven and Ajax Amsterdam in particular are said to be exploring a possible deal.
For Geertruida, that would mean a return not only to his home country. It would also take him back to the league where he supposedly played his way into Bayern Munich's sights and ultimately made a momentous decision.
Lutsharel Geertruida: statistics before and after his move to RB Leipzig
Statistic | Feyenoord Rotterdam | RB Leipzig and AFC Sunderland |
Matches | 202 | 65 |
Goals | 24 | 1 |
Assists | 11 | 1 |
Minutes played | 15.581 | 5.896 |