'I think something is already in place' - Manchester City winger Jack Harrison on Leeds United future and Whites European dream
The Manchester City winger has become a mainstay of Marcelo Bielsa's side and part of the Whites furniture thanks to three successive loan stints.
He was initially due to seal a permanent move to Leeds last summer but a renegotiation of the deal instead saw him return on loan once again.
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Hide AdHarrison is expected to become a Leeds-owned player this summer, although Leeds will have to pay around £10m, which is slightly higher than the fee that would have been involved at the end of last season.
The player himself believes 'something is already in place' and admits that with 112 Leeds appearances to his name, his temporary status is a source of amusement for his team-mates.
"I think this summer something is already in place, my agent knows more about all of this stuff than I do," he told the Fútbol with Grant Wahl podcast."Leeds has been incredible to me, I've developed a lot whilst I've been here. We always joke that I'm going to come back for a fourth year on loan. I think a lot of the lads still find it hard to believe I'm still on loan. We'll see what happens in the summer."
Harrison has fired in five goals in his 20 Premier League starts this season and added four assists from the left wing. He has started 20 of Leeds' 21 league fixtures, only missing the game against his parent club due to the stipulations of the loan deal.
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Hide AdHe and his team-mates have coped just fine with the top flight, having secured promotion last season as Championship title winners. Despite last night's 2-1 defeat by Everton they sit comfortably in midtable, well away from the relegation dogfight that has engulfed their two fellow newly promoted sides. Safety was the aim this season but the club's ambitions are much loftier.
The talk at ownership level is of European football being the next long-term goal, something Harrison says is echoed by fans and the players themselves.
"We always try to break our limits," he said.
"A lot of people doubted us saying you can't last a season with Marcelo [Bielsa], you're not going to make it to the Premier League and now we're here. We've had a really good start, the first half of the season has been great. If we can keep building on it there's no real saying where Leeds can go.
"A lot of Leeds fans around the world are happy to see us back in the Premier League already but I think they want to try and push for European football as well. That's in the sights of a lot of Leeds fans and I think a lot of the players too, it would be a dream come true to play European football in these next few years."
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