Everton could hit new level under Sean Dyche with move for ‘Incredible’ Jack Harrison as transfer news emerge
Everton are reportedly in talks with Leeds United to sign winger Jack Harrison, a signing which could finally take the Toffees to new attacking levels next season.
The 26-year-old maestro is expected to leave Elland Road this summer after the club were relegated from the Premier League, with talkSPORT reporting on 29 May that the forward has a “relegation release clause” of around £16m in his contract that could result in a “cut price” exit.
CBS journalist Ben Jacobs previously tipped Everton to make the attacking move this summer, with the Elland Road fan-favourite valued as high as £30million by Leeds in the January transfer window.
And according to Football Transfers [18 June], Everton are exploring a deal for the former Manchester City star, with Harrison open to the move as he has family residing in the North West.
The need for an attacking spark at Goodison Park has long been a desired commodity under Sean Dyche’s tutelage after the Everton board failed to hand the former Burnley boss the signings he needed upon his appointment late during the winter window, especially after selling Anthony Gordon to Newcastle for £45m and Richarlison to Tottenham for around £60m back last summer.
Dyche has had to rely heavily on the likes of Alex Iwobi and Dwight McNeil as part of his tried and trusted attacking setup to some tremendous success, with Everton avoiding relegation to the Championship on the final day, despite finishing the campaign as the division’s second-lowest scorers (34 goals).
With Demarai Gray reportedly growing unhappy about his starting opportunities under Sean Dyche and open to leaving the club this season [Daily Mail, 12 June] and Iwobi opening up on his ambitions to play in the Champions League, Everton need further options on the wing, and fast.
Such a success story with a depleted squad at his disposal has only heightened the expectation for the Everton faithful as they wonder what Dyche might achieve should be handed the quality tools to work even more magic and signing a player in Harrison’s ilk may be too good an opportunity for Dyche to pass up on this summer.
Harrison, dubbed “incredible” by his former manager Jesse Marsch, enjoyed a commendable 2022/23 campaign for Leeds United despite their relegation, netting six goals and laying on ten assists in 40 appearances in all competitions, considerably more than any of Dyche’s attacking options.
Harrison also managed to average around 1.5 key passes per fixture during the season in the Premier League, showing his intuition and ability to become a key part of a team’s chance creation when given the platform and attacking freedom to do so [SofaScore].
As per FBRef, Harrison’s inventiveness is further evidenced in the fact that he successfully performed 114 shot-creating actions in the English top-flight over the course of the 22/23 campaign showing why he is one of the Premier League’s best creators outside the top six teams, and that is a weaponry Everton desperately need next season if they are to finally climb up the table and end their embarrassing association and flirtation with the relegation places.
Also, Harrison has also become the complete wide-player package, not just excelling in the attacking sense but proving a nuisance when defending his own goal, possessing great tenacity, aggression and incredible work ethic, all while registering 1.1 tackles per game, 0.6 interceptions and winning 1.0 possessions per game [SofaScore].
Everton have been linked with a whole host of names in recent weeks, but in order for Dyche to take his team to the hugely-coveted next level at Goodison Park, the perfect and most sensible solution is already staring him in the face. This is a potential deal Farhad Moshiri should green-light rather quickly.