Leeds United have an extra headache this month due to the developing Jack Harrison situation at Everton. The winger is on his second loan stint at Goodison Park this season but his performances have gone downhill. The new Everton owners are considering terminating his loan stint in January and sending him back to Elland Road before the end of the winter transfer window. Harrison is not keen to return to Leeds and Daniel Farke already has several wingers in his squad. Leeds will have to find a solution but this is a reminder of some of the poor decisions that former Whites sporting director Victor Orta made during his time at Elland Road.
Harrison has made 17 Premier League appearances this season but is still waiting to score his first goal or register his first assist for the club this term.
Sean Dyche has left Everton and the club are set to bring in a new manager in the coming days. The new owners are also considering rejigging the squad in the winter transfer window.
The future of Jack Harrison at Everton has come under the scanner due to his poor performances and Everton are mulling over terminating his loan contract before the end of the January window.
Everton would have to come to an agreement with Leeds before his contract could be terminated but the Whites would have preferred to avoid this headache this month.
Both Harrison and Leeds are not keen to reunite and Leeds were hoping that Everton would sign the winger on a permanent deal moving forward.
However, that is unlikely to happen and Leeds might be forced to find a new club for Harrison if Everton decide to let him go before the end of the month.
Victor Orta’s decision to offer Jack Harrison a new contract was one of his last bad decisions at Leeds
If Harrison returns to Leeds this month, the club would either have to sanction another loan or accept a cut-price transfer fee to sell him completely.
The problem for Leeds is that he still has more than three years left on his contract, which is a direct result of a baffling decision Victor Orta made in the 2022/23 season.
Leeds were struggling to survive in the Premier League and Leicester City were interested in getting their hands on Harrison in the winter transfer window of 2023.
Orta and the Leeds hierarchy panicked and offered him a new five-year contract, which the winger was happy to sign. Harrison joined Everton on loan in the summer once Leeds were relegated from the top flight.
That contract is now hanging around Leeds’ neck when either the player or the club are not interested in reuniting.
The Toffees have not decided on what to do with Harrison and are likely to leave the call to the new manager once he is appointed.
Leeds and Harrison are waiting anxiously to check whether they will be forced into reuniting reluctantly before the end of the transfer window.
Can he help Leeds this season?
Harrison was a massive player for Leeds when they got promoted to the Premier League in the 2019/20 season. He was impactful in the first year in the top flight as well.
He has struggled in the Premier League this term but could still be a useful player if he agrees to play in the Championship again if he returns to Leeds.
Wilfried Gnonto and Largie Ramazani have been inconsistent and Farke has been forced to place his trust in Manor Solomon and Daniel James.
Harrison will be a quality addition to the Leeds squad if he is prepared to spend half a season in the Championship with the Whites. He has the experience of taking the Whites back to the Premier League.
A lot will depend on whether Farke wants him in the squad given he was in a hurry to leave Leeds when they got relegated from the Premier League.
Either way, Leeds would have a decision to make if Everton pushed to terminate the winger’s loan this month.
