MOT View: £8m-valued player proved he was good enough for Leeds in PL in one display
Jack Harrison may have had his critics during his first loan spell at Leeds United but no one can deny he’s been a star in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad this season.
Since re-joining the Whites on loan from Manchester City in the summer, the 23-year-old scored five goals and supplied seven assists in 37 Championship appearances.
Leeds are top of the league for a lot of reasons and Harrison’s form this season is one of those reasons.
And that is why it is such good news for the Yorkshire giants that Harrison can be signed for just £8million at the end of his loan deal, according to the Manchester Evening News.
The MEN reported in January that Man City are prepared to sell Harrison at the end of the season, even though he has impressed during his time on loan in West Yorkshire.
Leeds are reportedly keen to keep hold of the ex-New York City winger and Man City’s willingness to sell means that a permanent deal is highly likely.
Unless the season gets declared null and void due to the coronavirus pandemic, Leeds stand a huge chance of winning promotion to the Premier League this year.
That means that if United are going to spend £8million on Harrison, they’ll need to be sure that he can perform as good in the top-flight as he has been in the Championship.
Luckily, Harrison has already proven he is more than capable of making the step up with a masterclass of a display on the left-flank in the 4-0 win away at Hull City last month.
Harrison started the match n the wing but during the match, Bielsa changed his formation to have the 23-year-old playing on the left-hand side of the pitch by himself as a left-back and winger.
Still, stats by WhoScored show that Harrison made four key passes, completed six dribbles and was dispossessed just once in his 90-minute-long appearance at the KCOM Stadium.
Harrison has averaged 2.1 key passes, 1.9 dribbles and 2.2 dispossessions this season in the Championship, so that display at Hull, despite being on the left-wing by himself, was a huge improvement on his usual shifts.
Harrison is still a young player at 23 and £8million for someone who’s English and proven himself at the top of the Championship is an absolute bargain.
Leeds will not be missing out on quality too by signing Harrison.
If he can perform the way he did at Hull when he had so much work heaped on him by Bielsa, then there’s massive hope for him to shine in the top-flight as a Leeds United player.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has said what he’s heard about a potential second series of the Amazon documentary.