Crysencio Summerville’s breakthrough season at West Ham has earned him a place in the Netherlands’ World Cup squad.
Summerville was one of the best players in the Premier League over the winter, scoring in four consecutive games.
His contributions were not enough to keep the Hammers in the top division, but he still put the league on notice.
The Dutchman will also soon have the opportunity to showcase his skills on the biggest international stage this summer.
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Summerville explained that a Barcelona and Brazil superstar has helped him improve.
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Crysencio Summerville recalls learning from Raphinha at Leeds
Summerville can still be criticised for his inconsistency, as he failed to score a goal in West Ham’s last seven games.
Although he is a proven match-winner on his day, he did not perform often enough to save the Hammers from relegation.
The Netherlands will be hoping that the 24-year-old can make a bigger impact at the 2026 World Cup, likely as a substitute.
Summerville has even discussed wanting to become a “key player” for the national team, like Raphinha is for Brazil.
The West Ham man learned a lot from Raphinha during their time at Leeds and wants to emulate his success for club and country.
“I want to be a key player for the team,” Summerville told Algemeen Dagblad ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
“Raphinha, my former teammate at Leeds United, is one of the players who has helped me with that. When you’re on the pitch with guys like that, you know what you have to do.”
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Summerville is also looking to learn from the experienced players in the Netherlands dressing room this summer.
“It helps that I already know a lot of the guys, for example, from national youth teams. It is nice to see those guys again,” he added.
“I also hope to learn a lot from experienced guys like Virgil van Dijk, Memphis Depay, and Frenkie de Jong.”
Summerville is expected to make his senior Netherlands debut during a friendly against Algeria on Wednesday night.
Ronald Koeman’s team will then face Uzbekistan in their final warm-up game before the World Cup starts next weekend.
The Netherlands have an outside chance of winning the tournament for the first time, given their incredible defensive depth.
De Jong, Ryan Gravenberch and Tijani Reijnders are also quality midfielders, but their front three is not at the same level.
They will need the likes of Summerville to step up and perform at their very best to make it all the way to the final.
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