Newcastle United: Keith Downie claims he could see Jack Harrison in Magpies side

Journalist Keith Downie has claimed that Jack Harrison is someone he could see in the Newcastle United team – but doesn’t think they will be able to prise him over to Tyneside.

According to The Athletic, Newcastle have had a second bid rejected for Jack Harrison, with the latest offer from the Magpies being over £20m.

Harrison has started life for Leeds this season well, starting all five top-flight games so far and chipping in with four goal contributions along the way as his side have picked up eight points from five games.

With Harrison having a promising start to the season, Downie spoke to GiveMeSport and claimed that it would be ‘almost impossible’ for the Magpies to complete because Leeds do not want to let him go.

He said: “I could see him in the team and I think he’s someone that they’ve liked for a long time. It’s my understanding that the first bid went in earlier on in the window and it was £14m plus five. I think it was an offer of £19m in total. The second one, as I understand, was a little bit more than that but still nowhere near what Leeds are looking for.

“I think that deal was almost impossible to do because they want to keep hold of him and he’s obviously made a great start to the season with Leeds. Newcastle would need to go in with huge numbers to try and twist their arm on that one.”

Will Newcastle make anymore signings? Yes! Vote No! Vote

TIF Thoughts on Downie’s comments…

It looked like a pretty low-key transfer window for the Magpies before they spent around £63m on Alexander Isak with Eddie Howe keen on bolstering his attacking options, though it is perhaps likely that they will opt against spending a lot more money due to FFP rules.

With Harrison having such an important role at Leeds, it looks like the only way that he will part ways with Elland Road before the window shuts is if Newcastle offer a deal that they financially can’t refuse, which again, does not look likely because of the money they have already spent.

But the fact Downie believes Newcastle are strong admirers suggests this may be a deal they revisit in a future window, so this may be one to keep an eye on.