By Daniel Feliciano

2nd Feb, 2023 | 6:10pm

Rodrigo ruled out of action for 2 months, saved Jack Harrison's Leeds United career

Jack Harrison may have found his Leeds United career saved by the fact that Rodrigo has been ruled out of action for the next two months.

The Whites announced that their top scorer and Spain international suffered “ligament and bone damage” during the FA Cup clash against Accrington Stanley and is now set to be ruled out until April.

This information comes out just days after it was revealed that winger Harrison was all set for a £20m transfer to Leicester, with a medical even taking place, before he was recalled and the club pulled the plug.

While initially it was believed that Leeds had just had a change of heart about a transfer and wanted Harrison to stick around, with Marsch a big fan of the former New York playmaker, but this could prove to be something more likely.

Had Harrison left and with Rodrigo out for two months, plus the fact Joe Gelhardt was allowed to leave on loan and with Patrick Bamford’s iffy-at-best injury record, they risked being light.

Crysencio Summerville has picked up a few knocks since coming into the first-team, while Brenden Aaronson hasn’t really hit the heights many expected and Georginio Rutter is brand new to the league and team.

Keeping Harrison at the club heading into his final 12 months of his contract means they have another proven option, and reports of a new contract also don’t mean too much about his long-term future at the club.

As we have already seen during the January transfer window with Diego Llorente, a new deal could just be handed out to protect his value for a future sale.

Llorente signed a new contract just before Christmas, but now will be sporting the shirt of Roma for the rest of the season with a permanent option expected to be exercised in the summer too.

The same could happen with Harrison in the summer, with the player reportedly never convinced about a move to Leicester anyway.

The club have saved themselves from looking a bit silly by releasing a first-team attacker to a relegation rival and leaving themselves short, while also protecting their long-term value in the future by extending his contract at Leeds.

For now he’s sticking around and he’s now got the chance to earn himself a regular starting spot once again, meaning this injury could potentially have saved his Elland Road career.

In other Leeds news, the club launched an audacious deadline day bid to bring in a midfielder on loan.