Leeds United to secure immediate Jack Harrison upgrade after Paixao transfer latest
Igor Paixao’s potential arrival at Leeds United has got those around Elland Road buzzing.
Last season, Dan James, Willy Gnonto, Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani were some of the most talented players in Daniel Farke’s squad that won promotion to the Premier League.
However, with Solomon returning to Tottenham after his loan spell, Leeds needed a new left-winger, and Paixao appears to be their man, with an impressive bid tabled.
Jack Harrison also returned from his loan at Everton and controversially featured for Leeds in pre-season, but the arrival of Paixao could put the final nail in the coffin for his career at United.
Data shows that Paixao is a sizeable upgrade on Harrison
The fact that Farke has already flirted with the idea of using Harrison next season is a major mistake, but one he may no longer have to make with the signing of Paixao.
The winger is coming off the back of a phenomenal season for Feyenoord, where the Brazilian found the back of the net on 16 occasions and set up a further 10 goals in the Eredivisie.
Harrison, on the other hand, scored just the one goal and failed to register a single assist during his time at Everton last campaign.
When comparing the two players’ data on DataMB, the vast disparity in quality is apparent.
In every statistical category aside from crosses completed, Paixao ranks ahead of Harrison, leaving no reason for Farke to persist with the unpopular Englishman at Elland Road.
- Harrison completes more crosses
- Paixao is more direct with his dribbling, leading to more personal contributions
Getting rid of Harrison will help Gnonto and Ramazani
As well as being better players currently, Gnonto and Ramazani are both significantly younger than Harrison and have more room for growth.
With Paixao set to cost around £28million, he will naturally be one of the first names on the team sheet, but having Ramazani and Gnonto as options to play off the left for cover will be useful for Farke.
With Gnonto also being able to potentially start on the right, keeping Harrison around would only stunt the Italians’ progress.
Harrison should be sold by the 49ers before the end of the window, with Leeds set to have plenty of quality options out wide for their Premier League campaign.
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