Leeds United 2024 release clause update emerges amid potential ‘issue’ with on-loan Everton man Jack Harrison – Phil Hay

Leeds United should be safe from a repeat of this summer’s chaos at the hands of release clauses next summer, but there is a potential question mark over Jack Harrison, according to Phil Hay.

The Athletic journalist said on The Square Ball on 9 September that he has been told there could be an “issue” at the end of the season with the on-loan Everton winger if the Whites aren’t promoted, but in comparison to the exodus from Elland Road this year the “vast” number of exit clauses will either be “not valid or not present”.

The Square Ball’s Dan Moylan had followed up his interview with Angus Kinnear this week (7 September) to ask the club about potential problems in a year’s time and been told Leeds aren’t expecting to struggle again.

“I did reach out to the club and ask them,” Moylan (40m 35s) said, “and the response was that obviously player contracts are confidential so they can’t discuss individual terms, but it’s not going to be a problem next summer, is the way that they’re viewing it.”

“I think it means that most of these clauses, the vast majority of them, will no longer be an issue next summer, either because they are invalid or because they are not present,” Hay responded.

“Someone suggested to me, and I’m not sure if this is strictly correct, that Harrison’s might be an issue again next summer if Leeds do not get promoted and remain in the Championship.” As I have stated, I’m not certain that’s correct.

That is tentatively encouraging news after the transfer window saw a slew of players leave early for little compensation, only to have Daniel Farke’s plans continually undermined by further departures later in the summer.

At the same time, Leeds apparently did not expect that position to be a problem when they agreed on the majority of those contracts last year.

Even with the fact that the 49ers have officially taken over, fans may be hesitant to take what they say at face value for a while.

Andrea Radrizzani, who responded to the CEO’s interview on Twitter on Friday night before deleting his account, suggested that Kinnear knew all about the relegation release clauses. His opinion now carries a lot less weight among the Whites fanbase than it once did given the events of the past year.

That appears to be a rather believable assumption, so while it would seem logical that Leeds have passed the worst of the uncertainty caused by contract terms, it would not be surprising if they continue to be an unpleasant surprise next summer.

Because Tyler Adams and Luis Sinisterra were able to push their way into Bournemouth despite the limitations apparently having expired, there may still be agents attempting to exploit stipulations.

If there was going to be a problem, it would most likely be Harrison, because he is the only one who signed his latest deal when relegation looked more likely than not (6 April), thus the Whites will have to either sidestep the problem by getting promoted or cross that bridge when it comes to it.