OPINION
Leeds United fans may not have been happy with the way that Swansea reportedly pulled the plug on the deal for Daniel James to head to Elland Road on deadline day, but one player who surely would have been thrilled is Jack Harrison.
Harrison, 22, has experienced fluctuating form since joining Leeds on loan from Manchester City last summer and has only recently started to regularly be named in the starting line-up after a spell of being an unused substitute in November and December.
The England Under-21 international has started all of the club’s last seven Championship fixtures despite not featuring in the four games before that and if James had been signed from Swansea, he definitely would have lost his spot on the left-wing.
Marcelo Bielsa hunted down James fiercely throughout January with the Telegraph reporting that the 21-year-old was the Argentine’s number one target for the transfer window.
After plenty of negotiations, it finally seemed as though the Whites would get their man on Thursday.
It is reported that James had even passed a medical with the Championship leaders, but a disagreement between Swans chairman Huw Jenkins and the Welsh club’s American owners led to the deal being scrapped at the last minute.
Bielsa is bound to be gutted that he wasn’t able to sign James – even Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani took to Twitter to express his disappointment.
However the United boss will still surely feel as though he has a squad of players that can win promotion to the Premier League this season, and that means that Harrison is bound to keep hold of his starting spot on the left-wing until the end of the campaign.
Man City signed Harrison from New York City last January, before sending him out on loan to Middlesbrough where he failed to impress, earning just four appearances under Tony Pulis.
Leeds then swooped for the £51,000-a-week (Spotrac) winger in the summer when they bagged him on loan and after an initial run of poor form, it looked as though Man City had signed a dud.
His displays have improved lately, especially as he impressed in the 2-1 win against Rotherham last Saturday, and losing his place at this stage of the season would be a major blow both for him and his parent club.
Harrison is now likely to continue his development and return to Man City in the summer a much better player than when he left.
If James had arrived, Harrison might not have had that opportunity.