Leeds United have transfer job on their hands as Jack Harrison slammed as ‘irrelevant’
Jack Harrison has been branded as “irrelevant” amid his loan spell at Fiorentina.
After spending the last two seasons at Everton, as Leeds tried to earn promotion back to the Premier League, Harrison returned to Daniel Farke’s side for the first half of this campaign.
The German repeatedly praised the winger’s dedication and application earlier this season, but of his 13 appearances this term, just three of those were in the starting XI for the Elland Road team.
Few Leeds fans mourned his loan switch to Fiorentina in January, with the Serie A strugglers having a chance to turn the move into a permanent one this summer for around £6million.
Eight matches into his Italian job, journalist Ricardo Trevisani did not mince his words when laying into the 29-year-old.
Jack Harrison flattering to deceive away from Leeds
In recent years, Harrison’s stock has dropped. The former Manchester City man excelled when Marcelo Bielsa was in charge at Leeds, but he has struggled for consistency and form for quite some time.
At Everton, for instance, he scored just five goals and added four assists in 73 outings over two seasons. Back when Bielsa was in charge at Leeds in the 2020-21 season in the Premier League, Harrison bagged 16 goal contributions.
Fast forward to the present, and he has one assist in eight appearances, five of which have been starts, in all competitions at Fiorentina.
As this Sofascore graphic shows below, the former Middlesbrough loanee hasn’t set the world alight in Florence.
And after a 3-0 loss to Udinese on Monday, Trevisani tore into Harrison, while praising fellow loanee and former Leeds United fan favourite Manor Solomon.
He said via Viola News: “Harrison is an irrelevant player; he doesn’t move anything. Solomon is much better. If yesterday was worse than usual, it’s because Dodo and Solomon were missing, who, along with Kean, are the most in-form players in Fiorentina.”
Despite this damning assessment, Fiorentina have fared okay when Harrison is in the team. According to FBRef, they have picked up 1.40 points per game when he has featured.
When he has been on the pitch, they have scored one more goal than they have conceded. Moreover, their net goals per 90 minutes while Harrison was on the pitch versus off it amount to +0.82.
Contrast that to his contribution this season at Leeds, with Farke’s side at -1.07 when Harrison played for them. His duel and dribble success are low, but his work rate and pass accuracy are high.
For now, Fiorentina are focusing on staying up. But come the summer, they may decide against a permanent deal.
What next for Jack Harrison?
There is no guarantee that Fiorentina, who are fourth from bottom in Serie A, will take up the option to sign Harrison permanently this summer.
However, it seems that his chances of a Leeds United renaissance are dead and buried. He is not the player he once was, and a parting of the ways seems inevitable.
Harrison’s Elland Road contract expires in the summer of 2028, but it seems likely he will move on at the end of the season.
A return to Major League Soccer has been mooted, with Harrison starting his career at New York City, which convinced Man City to sign him in 2017.
Harrison has gone on to have a solid career, playing multiple seasons in the Premier League and guiding Leeds to Championship title-winning success in 2020.
But his Leeds adventure needs to end. If he struggles at Fiorentina – who are out of the relegation zone on goal difference – for the rest of the campaign, Leeds may have to take another financial hit to get him off their books.
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