Brighton have activated a £40million release clause in Leeds forward Georginio Rutter’s contract.
The Premier League club have been reported to have had bids of £29m and £35m for the Frenchman turned down by Leeds, who do not want to lose the 22-year-old, the PA news agency understands.
No other club can activate the release clause after Brighton beat the midnight deadline on Wednesday, it is understood.
Leeds signed Rutter in January last year on a five-and-a-half-year contract from Hoffenheim for a club-record deal, which could rise to £35m.
The Sky Bet Championship club now face an anxious wait for Rutter to decide whether he stays with them or moves on to the top flight with Brighton.
He has established himself as a fans’ favourite at Elland Road, scoring eight goals and making 16 assists in a total of 51 appearances last season as Leeds missed out on an immediate Premier League return after relegation.
Since losing 1-0 to Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley in May they have sold two of their best players, Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville, to Tottenham and West Ham respectively.
Leeds fans had been expecting those departures – Gray for around £30m, which could rise to £40m, and Summerville for a reported £25m plus add-ons.
The loss of their talisman Rutter following last Saturday’s opening-day draw against Portsmouth would be a big blow to manager Daniel Farke’s bid for automatic promotion this season.
