Jack Harrison injury update emerges to sway Aston Villa hijack attempt on Everton move for Leeds United winger – Fabrizio Romano
Aston Villa are “not intentioned to proceed” on their attempted hijack of Jack Harrison’s Leeds United loan exit because he is injured, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian journalist reported via Twitter Sunday night (13 August) that Everton are “now prepared to close the deal” after completing a medical earlier in the day, with Villa put off since Harrison is expected to be unavailable to replace Emi Buendia for “some weeks” after the Argentine’s ACL injury.
The Toffees appeared to be closing in on the latest swoop for a first-team player thanks to the widespread relegation release clauses in the Leeds United squad, before a dramatic series of updates which flipped proceedings multiple times but appear to have ended up back on the original course.
The Telegraph reported earlier Sunday that Everton had signed Harrison on an “initial” loan as he was having medical on Merseyside, before Romano reported a late “hijack” attempt from Villa Park, with the 26-year-old apparently choosing them following a “direct” call from Unai Emery.
The Athletic’s David Orstein soon countered that the Toffees had in fact got the deal over the line despite the late arrival of their Premier League rivals, despite BBC Sport then reporting an “agreement in place” with Villa, with the Midlanders “set to beat” Everton.
Ultimately, it appears Harrison’s current injury has scuppered whatever advances were made towards the hijack and left the Toffees clear to complete the move.
Bemusing
With Harrison the latest in a long line of Whites players to be provided with an easy exit door on loan thanks to clauses agreed by the previous regime the club will have had to sit by and simply wait to see what happened.
Whether the former Manchester City man ends up on Merseyside or Birmingham it will not be a positive development for Daniel Farke and the Whites.
Had he left for a decent fee involved it might have been a different story, since the German needs cash to replenish a squad that is rapidly deteriorating in light of exits and injury.
But another loan does little aside from ease the wage bill and take another option out of the manager’s hands, so he is sure to be frustrated by Sunday’s developments either way, especially when Harrison was set to cost £20million to Leicester in January before signing a new five-year deal.
It is no secret that Harrison has been injured for a while, and Farke has already stated publicly that he expects him to be out until the first international break which is around a month away, so the drama may have been somewhat needless.
But with Willy Gnonto now facing discipline from the club after missing two games in search of a move, Luis Sinisterra absent against Birmingham on Saturday in what looks a similar development, and Tyler Adams still in line to be taken to the Premier League despite his Chelsea move falling through, it looks set to be a rough few weeks for the club.
Farke needs to make signings as quickly as possible to remedy the list of wantaway players, but loans like Harrison’s aren’t helping fund that endeavour.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are battling to sign a Premier League striker who wants to leave before the deadline.