Noel Whelan reacts as Leeds confirm Jack Harrison loan deal

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Leeds United have made Jack Harrison one of their first signings of the summer, with the winger returning on loan.

Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that Jack Harrison is going to need an exceptional season if he hopes to earn a permanent move to Leeds after the Whites confirmed on their official website that the Manchester City wide-man has joined on another loan deal.

Along with Ben White, Harrison became the club’s first signing of the summer as the club announced on Monday that he had returned to Elland Road having spent the entirety of last season on loan at Leeds.

Interestingly, the club have confirmed on their official website that they have the option to make Harrison’s deal permanent at the end of the campaign. But Whelan insisted that the 22-year-old needs to do a lot more than he did during his first year if he hopes to convince the Whites to sign him for a third time 12 months from now.

“He’s got to have an exceptional season if we’re going to part money with him,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“He’s got to show that he’s worth buying and spending money on because I think if it was off the back of last year, we wouldn’t have said, ‘yeah, we’ll sign him.’ I think because he was that inconsistent and he was in and out of games. His assist ratio has got to be better. He’s got to put the chances that come his way away more because he squandered a lot of very good chances last season.

“So on many levels and many boxes, he’s got to start ticking more of them.”

Harrison did struggle to make an impact on a regular basis, and it would probably be fair to suggest that no player in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad managed to frustrate the fans quite as much as the winger did.

But that frustration only came about because there were also the moments of sheer quality spread out throughout the campaign. His deft finish against Sheffield Wednesday looked set to be a massive goal in the club’s season, and his assist for Kemar Roofe’s play-off semi-final goal was outstanding.

Harrison showed that he had the talent to make a devastating impact in the Championship. If Bielsa can get him to unleash it on a more regular basis, then Leeds may feel that they have a simple decision to make when they consider whether to sign him permanently or not next summer.