Raphinha’s departure from Leeds United became inevitable the moment he was omitted from Jesse Marsch’s Australia squad. The saga had been going on for months, but officially ended on Friday when Barcelona announced they had signed the Brazilian for around £55million.
The interest in Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips - sold to Manchester City for £42million - dominated Leeds headlines as the elite of European football circled Elland Road and prized away its two prized assets. But underneath the current of the Phillips-Raphinha tidal wave, murmurs of interest in Jack Harrison have gathered momentum.
Tottenham Hotspur were the first club to show an interest in May, but a reported £30million price tag staved off an official approach as Antonio Conte turned to Richarlison. One team seemingly willing to consider such a price is Newcastle United, with Eddie Howe a strong admirer of Harrison and keen to spend the club’s new found wealth wisely.
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But Marsch cannot afford to lose the 25-year-old, whose contribution in the two seasons back in the Premier League has largely flown under the radar. He certainly cannot lose him in the same window as Raphinha.
The former Manchester City man has 16 goals since his top-flight debut against Liverpool in 2020, none of which have been penalties. With nine assists to add to that, his 25 non-penalty goal contributions over the last two seasons are equal to the £55million Brazilian (13 non-penalty goals and 12 assists) - it is also more than the likes of Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish and Allan Saint-Maximin.
Harrison scored Leeds’ first goal upon their return to the Premier League - jinking between Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez before rifling a shot into the bottom corner - and he scored the 94th-minute winner on the final at Brentford, all but securing the club’s top-flight status for another season.
As a more functionally effective winger, his contributions have largely not garnered the same praise as Raphinha’s, but they have been just as crucial - as has his consistency. In a campaign littered with injuries Harrison played 35 matches last season and started 32 of those, while the season before saw the winger start 34 of 36 total appearances.
Only Stuart Dallas and Illan Meslier have made more than Harrison’s 71 league appearances over the past two seasons - a nod towards the old adage ‘the best ability is availability’.
And with six new signings already through the door, Marsch will be minded to ensure continuity within the team during the transition away from the Marcelo Bielsa era. He is right to move the squad on and bring in his own personnel, but too large a change over one window could affect the dynamic within the camp and alter the work-ethic that won promotion in the first place.
Yet to hit his peak years, Harrison is the perfect player to provide that consistency over a number of seasons, maintaining the attitude that got Leeds back to the Premier League while the quality around him increases.
Every club and every player has their price, and if anyone is to tempt Leeds with a big-money offer then Newcastle seem the most likely. But Marsch and Leeds cannot afford to lose another of their most influential attackers this summer.
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