Leeds United have rejected a fresh approach made for left-winger Jack Harrison.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to David Ornstein’s latest report for The Athletic, in which the journalist revealed that, following Newcastle United’s opening offer of up to £20m being rejected by Victor Orta, the Spaniard has now knocked back a second bid from Eddie Howe’s side – with the Magpies’ most recent proposal believed to be over the £20m mark.
Ornstein went on to state that Jesse Marsch’s outfit value the 25-year-old at a much greater figure than Newcastle’s latest offer – with previous reports suggesting that the Whites’ asking price for the former England U21 international is closer to the £40m mark – however, Leeds are said to have made it clear that they have no intention of selling the winger this summer.
Big mistake
Considering just how important Harrison has proven himself to be within Jesse Marsch’s side so far this season, the argument that cashing in on the 25-year-old, even for an offer of £40m, would be a huge mistake for the club is an easy one to make.
Indeed, over his three Premier League appearances in the Whites’ 2022/23 campaign, the £16.2m-rated talent has been in remarkable form, having already scored one goal, registered three assists and created three big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 4.0 key passes and completing 2.7 dribbles per game.
These returns currently – prior to Manchester United’s meeting with Liverpool – rank Harrison as the joint-highest assist provider – alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus – the second-highest big chance creator – behind De Bruyne – the joint second-highest key passer – behind Mohamed Salah – and the joint ninth-most successful dribbler in the Premier League thus far.
Furthermore, the £15k-per-week forward who James Marshment dubbed “irreplaceable” has also impressed in a defensive capacity, making an average of 2.3 tackles, one interception, winning possession 2.3 times and winning 6.7 duels per fixture.
These metrics have helped the former Manchester City starlet average a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.93, not only ranking him as Marsch’s best performer in the league but also as the second-best outfielder in the English top flight as a whole – behind only De Bruyne.
As such, it would indeed appear as if Harrison is something of an irreplaceable part of the Whites’ side at present, leading us to believe that sanctioning the sale of the 25-year-old would be a huge mistake for Orta to make prior to September’s transfer deadline.