Opinion

Leeds United mainstay’s upcoming absence opens the door for individual to shine against familiar opposition: Opinion

|
Image for Leeds United mainstay’s upcoming absence opens the door for individual to shine against familiar opposition: Opinion

Elland Road will play host to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in 10 days time, with one former City player set to profit from Jack Harrison missing out.

Back in Marcelo Bielsa’s first transfer window at Leeds United, he was forced into leaning on a handful of loans to build his squad around the marquee signings of Patrick Bamford and Barry Douglas.

One of those loans that had a brilliant impact was relatively unknown prospect Jack Harrison from Manchester City.

Since then, Harrison has become synonymous with the Leeds United first team, rivalling Mateusz Klich for the mantle of being the most regular starter in the current squad. Despite this three-year run at Elland Road, the Whites are yet to tie down Harrison to a permanent deal despite all parties being happy to do so.

It’s not for the want of trying from Leeds’ end but more the lack of matchday revenue causing finances to be restricted to smarter spending, meaning a third loan deal made more sense than a multi-million pound acquisition of a player who would always still be here this term.

Harrison took to the Premier League like a duck to water by dismantling half of the world’s best defence with four touches at Anfield after just 11 minutes, and it’s a sign of things to come.

However, while he’s showing just how good he can be amongst the elite, he most likely won’t get the chance to show Man City what they’ll be missing when he inevitably puts pen to paper on a permanent switch to Leeds.

Whilst not confirmed, the likelihood is that Harrison – on his third Leeds loan in three seasons – will sit out of the upcoming meeting with his parent club, City, at Elland Road.

It’s a blow that is expected from the Leeds end and the dilemma now is who comes in to replace him and it will most likely be another man Pep Guardiola is well-verder with.

Back in January, Leeds clinched a deal to sign  highly-rated City youngster Ian Poveda which Guardiola was more than happy to sanction, given his admiration for Marcelo Bielsa.

Poveda has found it difficult to stand a claim for a regular first-team place since joining as he got to grips with the high demands of Bielsa’s training schedule, but the back end of the Championship-winning season saw him flourish.

A debut away to Cardiff City gave us glimpses of a tricky player despite a lacklustre defeat, but once promotion was confirmed and the shackles were off, Poveda shone.

A key spark in the attack during the 3-1 triumph at Derby County saw him a constant thorn in the Rams’ side before his impactful cameo in the coronation against Charlton Athletic.

Coming off the bench, Poveda used his pace to latch onto a Pascal Struijk long ball, before teeing smartly into the path of Jamie Shackleton for his first Leeds United assist.

Promotion to the Premier League has boosted the youth prospects of the whole club and given more players a chance to shine in youth games and in the cup, to which Poveda has grabbed with both hands.

Even though Leeds limped to a penalty shootout defeat at home to Hull City last week, Poveda was always actively looking to create chances and gave a real eye-opening performance out wide.

The doubts around the current Leeds squad is how they will cope with injuries to key players but the rise of Ian Poveda could plug a significant gap in the squad for the future.

All four of his appearances for the Whites since he signed have shown a player who has come into the side knowing he has a point to prove and not much time in the side to prove it, eager to do everything he can everytime he’s involved. 

Now, what better chance has he got to showcase more of that than against his former employers who let him go?

It’s set to be one of the most intriguing tactical battles of the season, with Guardiola a self-nominated disciple of Marcelo Bielsa’s but going above and beyond him with his achievements in the game.

Poveda will surely have a part to play at Elland Road against the title-hopefuls, and it’s an attack-centred battle that suits his front-foot approach.

Share this article

Leeds United season ticket holder since 2013/14, currently situated in the middle of the FA5 noise. From Pablo Hernandez to 5-1 drubbings, I've seen it all at Elland Road.