Neither Leeds United nor Jack Harrison wanted the winger to leave the club after his move to Leicester City fell through on the final day of the January transfer window.
That’s according to head coach Jesse Marsch, who says the Whites will now look to secure a new contract for the 26-year-old in the coming weeks.
After yet more continued speculation about the future of Harrison during the January transfer window, it looked as though the winger was indeed close to completing a move to Leicester on deadline day.
The winger had apparently travelled to Leicester and begun a medical on Tuesday, ahead of a prospective move to the Foxes.
However, that deal then failed to materialise, with Leeds deciding to pull the plug on the deal, meaning Harrison remains on the books at Elland Road, with 18 months remaining on his current contract.
Now it seems as though Marsch is confident that neither his side, nor Harrison himself, actually wanted that move to Leicester to be completed.
Speaking about the events of deadline day that saw Harrison’s move to Leicester ultimately fall through, Marsch was quoted by The Yorkshire Evening Post as saying: “In the 11th hour something came from Leicester. We’d been talking with Jack for a while about renegotiating his contract and it’s gone well but then been stalled at different moments.
“We’d spent a lot of money in the last couple of transfer windows – I think very wisely. When all the powers that be could get together from all the different angles then we had discussions, but once it all came together it’s clear we wanted Jack to stay, Jack wanted to stay and that’s why he’s still here.
“We are visiting getting that contract extension finalised because I think Jack has earned it and he’s an important guy in our squad but it created some complication because he only had 18 months on his contract when this came. In the end I think we all came together to say Jack needs to stay and we all felt the same.
“When it came so late and when you look at how we’d spent money we were trying to contemplate is it the right moment. I think it was a little bit of a chance for us to solidify how we really feel about Jack and how he feels about us.
“When big offers come in, players have to consider what that might be so I don’t fault anyone for visiting the possibility.”
This is an interesting revelation from Marsch that gives something of an insight into how things go behind the scenes.
As the Leeds boss says, sometimes accepting an offer for a player is not what a club wants to do, but what must happen for other reasons, such as a financial situation as appears to have been the case here.
Even so, with the quality that Harrison can bring to this side, it does feel like the fact that he is still a Leeds player, ought to be a boost fr their attempts to avoid relegation.
With that in mind, it does also feel as though agreeing a new deal with Harrison is no key for the club, in terms of protecting one of their big assets.
What’s your betting he’s not at the club next season.