Everton have strongly been linked with several Leeds United players this summer with Wilfried Gnonto, Tyler Adams and Crysencio Summerville all named as potential transfer targets and now another player from the West Yorkshire outfit is on the radar.
What's the latest on Everton's interest in Jack Harrison?
According to a journalist associated with Football Transfers, Everton are interested in signing Jack Harrison this summer.
The reporter tweeted on Monday afternoon:
"Told Everton are hoping to land a two-year deal for Leeds attacker Rodrigo but face competition from the Middle East. As reported before. Jack Harrison and Wilfried Gnonto also liked, though latter is being watched by a string of clubs in the PL and in Europe."
Who would Jack Harrison replace in the Everton team?
Taking advantage of Leeds' drop into the Championship this summer could prove to be extremely fruitful for Sean Dyche if the club can agree on several cut-price deals for the quality players of their relegation rivals of last season.
The personnel at Elland Road is full of attractive Premier League-proven talent and Jack Harrison could be an incredibly valuable asset to the Toffees, especially with growing speculation of an exit for Demarai Gray.
The Athletic has reported that the Everton winger has been attracting a lot of interest from Premier League and Saudi clubs already this summer and with financial problems rife could be seen as a potentially profitable outgoing worth selling this summer.
As a result, the signing of Harrison could pave the way for Gray to become the latest forward to make an exit at Goodison Park and provide Dyche with a worthy successor in the process.
The £32m-rated ace is a very versatile attacking threat with the capability and experience of playing in several roles over his career so far including both the left and right wide flanks of the forward line, as well as 13 appearances in the left midfield role.
Despite Leeds' plight, the 26-year-old – hailed "explosive" and "dangerous" by Jesse Marsch – scored six goals and registered ten assists over 40 appearances in all competitions last season, with a contribution every 188 minutes. That is an output that would be warmly welcomed on the blue side of Merseyside.
However, it's not just the Leeds talisman's goal contributions that make him a great replacement for Gray.
Indeed, he outperformed the Everton ace in a number of key attacking attributes in the Premier League last season including goals per shot on target (0.36 v 0.09), shot-creating actions per 90 (3.79 v 3.37), goal-creating actions per 90 (0.30 v 0.18) and progressive carries (103 v 94), as per FBref.
It paints the picture that not only would Harrison potentially create more opportunities for his teammates, but he'd also beat defenders more frequently.
With that being said, it would be a no-brainer for Everton to secure a deal for Harrison in their pursuit of improving the threat in front of goal next season and should Gray depart ahead of next season, the Englishman would clearly have no trouble matching or even improving the winger's impact.
