Leeds Director of Football Victor Orta is seemingly set to face Premier League opposition for the signature of Manchester City’s Jack Harrison, as Lancashire Live understand the 22-year-old is a target of Burnley.
Clarets boss Sean Dyche is thought to be keen on adding Premier League experience and difference makers to his squad at Turf Moor, following a 15th place finish in the recently concluded league season.
Dyche’s side were also dumped out of the Carabao Cup in the Third Round and FA Cup in the Fourth Round, having reached the Europa League Play-Off Round thanks to their efforts in the previous top-flight campaign.
Harrison may not have that Premier League experience, but his year on loan in West Yorkshire has made his case one worth considering having scored four goals and been accredited with three assists with us.
However, much like with us, any move to take the 5 ft 7 forward away from the Etihad Stadium permanently will come with its fair share of problems – namely, Pep Guardiola’s reported £20million asking price and Harrison’s £51,000-a-week contract.
Lancashire Live suggest Burnley may look to get around Manchester City’s sizable asking price by trying their utmost to take the Stoke-on-Trent born forward to Turf Moor on loan for the year, with the hope that the appeal of top-flight football could interest the former Manchester United academy player.
It was suggested earlier in the week that we would also be looking to bring Harrison back to Elland Road for another year on loan, after finding out that we would have to pay £20million to land the wide man on a permanent deal.
Meanwhile, Football Insider have reported that we have set aside £5million of our summer budget to spend purely on loan deals, as owner Andrea Radrizzani is unable to fund significant deals this year.
Although, it would be a shock if much of that went toward signing Harrison, as we are expected to be in the market for multiple options who can slot straight into Marcelo Bielsa’s first-team in order to usurp our initial efforts under the Argentine.
Football Insider also add that Harrison was considered a qualified success after his season at Elland Road, unlike the trio of Chelsea players we signed in Izzy Brown, Jamal Blackman and Lewis Baker.