Summerville was looking to leave Elland Road last month in a bid for regular first team minutes, with German outfit Hamburg keen on snapping him up.
However, a move failed to materialise for the Dutchman before last week’s deadline and he will remain at Elland Road at least until the coming summer.
Whites boss Bielsa has revealed that when Summerville asked for his permission to leave the club last month, he gave him his approval.
“He [Summerville] spoke with me and he told me he wanted to leave”, Bielsa told a press conference.
“I told him that would not be a problem.
“The reason why I said this to him is if a player who has pretty frequent participation with the first team, not necessarily coming on, but contemplated frequently, asked me to leave, for me that reason is sufficient.
“For any player that tells me they want to leave, I would answer: no problem, I’m not opposed to you leaving.”
However, Bielsa added that even if he gives a player his approval to leave, the final say always rests with the club, who in Summerville’s case opted to not let him go.
“After [me giving my approval for a plyer to go] the club has a different look on it because the players sign contracts and have obligations, they sum up to economic and I don’t have the power to decide contractual or economic problems.
“In the case of Summerville, there were 10 players in a similar situation and all the subjects were treated the same way.”
Summerville, will remain as an option in attack for Bielsa for the remainder of this campaign and it remains to be seen whether will attract interest from any more clubs in the summer.
