£4m flop will likely never play for Leeds again

Over the summer, Leeds United finally lost the services of Jack Harrison.

It brought an end to an eight-year association with Elland Road for the winger. From three separate loan spells to a permanent move in 2021, he eventually took his leave a matter of months ago.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Harrison headed back to MLS where he is now playing for New England Revolution.

His career has nearly come full circle. It was with New York City where he rose to prominence following a period in the Manchester City academy.

Was his career in England a success? Partially. When the great Marcelo Bielsa comes calling, you must have something about you

How Harrison rose to prominence under Bielsa

In July 2018, a 21-year-old Harrison first signed on loan for Leeds. “The ideals here are similar to Manchester City’s and Marcelo [Bielsa] has a fantastic reputation. It’s a great opportunity to be here.”

So, how did it all go initially? Well, in classic Harrison-style, to tell the truth. His first campaign at Elland Road only saw him score four goals and provide two assists.

Yet, improvements were made year on year. As Harrison really started to hit his stride in 2021, Bielsa only had kind words to say about the forward.

“He’s a player who, when he manages to play at his best version, has a big influence on our offensive game.” That was seen in 2021/22.

After three successive years on loan, the Whites eventually made the transfer permanent to the tune of £11m. He instantly rewarded the club with a ten goal season. The following year, he registered ten assists. He was growing into his skin all the time.

Bielsa was a big fan of his versatility. While Harrison initially arrived as a flying winger, he also played as a wing-back when required.

Why Harrison needed to leave Leeds

That quote from Bielsa was the problem. ‘When he manages to play at his best, he has a big influence’. The trouble was that Harrison was very rarely on his game.

While he did have two productive campaigns in Yorkshire, his end product was often left wanting and he was mightily inconsistent.

Patrick Bamford delivered an equally interesting viewpoint. “He sometimes struggles to show in a game what he shows in training,” the striker once said. “When you do see bits of it, you see that he’s got the capability. So it’s not a skill thing, it’s a mental thing.”

That ultimately always ended up holding Harrison back and what didn’t help his standing with fans was that when Leeds were relegated, he didn’t stay to help. He moved to Everton instead.

At Goodison Park, he also struggled for consistency, so much so that he only actually scored once during the 2024/25 campaign. So, when the Whites were promoted again, it was not a shock to see the winger struggle again.

Last season, he went without a goal involvement in 11 Premier League matches before heading to Fiorentina, where he netted once and assisted three in his 15 Serie A outings.

The new Harrison will never play for Leeds again

Harrison had good spells in Italy but it was ultimately another underwhelming period. Journalist Ricardo Trevisani noted that “Harrison is an irrelevant player; he doesn’t move anything.”

Damning words indeed for a man who, in the end, just simply had to get away from European football over the summer. His permanent exit from Leeds was no surprise.

Sadly, a similar tale has played out for Daniel Farke with the diminutive Wilfried Gnonto.

Signed for just £4m from FC Zurich in Switzerland, Leeds had acquired one of the most exciting young forwards around at the time. Gnonto made his debut for Italy at the age of 18 and he is still the youngest goalscorer in his nation’s history.

However, since moving to Elland Road, he has barely earned a cap. He has not lived up to that immense potential.

There was a period of time when he threatened to, but it was in the Championship, rather than the Premier League, where Gnonto made things his playground.

As Leeds sought promotion, the Italian was one of the most effervescent players in the second tier. He scored nine goals in back-to-back seasons at that level, also providing six assists in the campaign they went up.

Yet, since their Premier League status was secured, the 22-year-old has become something of a Harrison-esque figure.

Gnonto was available for 31 league fixtures last season and only played in 21 of them. Just four starts were forthcoming for the tricky winger.

It was a drab season for a player with so much potential but like Harrison, the mental side of things has left him down; Farke simply doesn’t trust him.

Thus, with Leeds seeking improvements over the summer, they signed Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Harry Wilson. Gnonto followed in Harrison’s footsteps by moving to Fiorentina on loan.

That is likely to be it for him in Leeds colours. Asked whether he’s still in the manager’s plans, reporter Adam Pope told the BBC this week, “It’s hard to see where Gnonto fits into Farke’s set-up any more, especially with him going back to Italy to play for Fiorentina on loan. He had started to make an impact off the bench during pre-season, but in terms of the starting pecking order, Gnonto seems way down the list.”

Pope references not just Wilson and Bahoya, but also Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson who were both elected ahead of him in the pecking order going into the new season.

Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

Since heading to Italy, it’s been more Harrison-style stuff from Gnonto. He is goalless in 85 minutes of Serie A action across three games, although he has found the net in the cup.

So far, he is doing very little to convince Farke he deserves a long-term future at Elland Road. It is very likely that he has already played his last game for Leeds.