'It's the worst for me' - YEP writers give blunt verdict on 'wild' Leeds United transfer decision

The Yorkshire Evening Post’s chief football writer Graham Smyth had his say on Jack Harrison’s imminent loan return to Everton on this week’s Inside Elland Road podcast, with Leeds United writer Joe Donnohue highlighting the positives of his exit.

Harrison has all but sealed a second season-long loan spell at Everton, having triggered an exit clause in his contract following relegation at the end of the 2022/23 campaign. That clause is thought to remain active, following United’s failure to achieve promotion, with the Toffees not paying any loan fee but covering the winger’s full wages.

The deal has brought those loan clauses back into the mind of Leeds supporters, with the club still suffering as a result of agreements made by previous decision-makers. And speaking on the most recent podcast, Smyth was critical of the situation in which Harrison was nearly sold last January. Read the full transcript from both YEP reporters below.

JD: “We got Jack Harrison who looks to be very close to confirming a second successive loan spell with Everton. I think getting it done early is pretty solid business.”

GS: “I don’t know if we ever really dug into it but Leeds are suffering a direct consequence of the January transfer madness that took hold when it seemed like Andrea Radrizzani was open to the idea of Jack Harrison getting his move to Leicester, and then others in the boardroom were not so keen and talked the whole thing down off a ledge. But because they'd sent him down there, he thought the movie was happening, he’d gone to the training ground and it was all pressing ahead. 

Get Inside Elland Road with Graham Smyth - the new newsletter packed with original, in-depth Leeds writing for less than £1 a week

“And then all of a sudden he was told ‘no, get back here’. It's almost like there was a ‘oh we're so sorry, poor Jack. Here, have this new contract and you know what, have a release clause even though we're about to get relegated and we know what's going to happen’. It's insane to me. I can understand why that contract dealing was so heavily weighted in the player’s favour, but my god it did not need to come to that did it?

“There should never have been a consideration of selling him in that window, they needed him so badly. He might not have had a great season but he was a player who was capable of coming up with a goal or coming up with a decent cross and coming up with moments. The idea of selling him was just absolutely wild. So right now, what you're seeing is the knock-on effect of that whole scenario. Of all the loan clauses, I think it’s the worst for me.”

JD: “You could argue that it's probably best to not have a player in your squad who doesn't really want to be there,” he added. “It's the full wage coverage confirmed, so Everton are paying his entire wage package. It's a straight loan so he is still a Leeds player with three years left on his deal when he returns next summer, so it's a good opportunity to sell him at market value if he has a good season. 

“I can't really see the downside to this deal other than you don’t get a 27-year-old more closely finished article Jack Harrison in the Championship. It would be useful but there's lots of players out there, and I think a lot of fans have come to the end of their tether with the whole loan situation.”