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NYCFC: Would Jack Harrison to Stoke be the worst thing?

By Tevan Costoso

FOXBOROUGH, MA - OCTOBER 15: New York City FC midfielder Jack Harrison (11) dribbles the ball during a match between the New England Revolution and New York City FC on October 15, 2017, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Revolution defeated NYCFC 2-1. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MA - OCTOBER 15: New York City FC midfielder Jack Harrison (11) dribbles the ball during a match between the New England Revolution and New York City FC on October 15, 2017, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Revolution defeated NYCFC 2-1. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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NYCFC has received a bid from EPL side Stoke City for 20-year-old English Jack Harrison. What’s the best move for the club?

Harrison, who is originally from Stoke-on-Trent, England, played 34 games for New York City last season, starting 33 of them. He was called up by England to play for the U-21 side this season, making one appearance for the Lions.

The bid is reportedly worth $4.5 million, with incentives that could possibly bring it up to around $6 million. It was reported that New York City turned down a $3 million offer from Stoke recently.
NYC recently added a number of forwards, so moving Jack Harrison might not be as big of an impact as it previously could have been.

Who replaces Jack?

With Jesus Medina, who can play as an attacking midfielder, or on the wings, losing Jack Harrison wouldn’t be too much of a hurt to this team if Medina lives up to the hype. Medina could slot right into the right wing and have possibly the same amount of production Harrison would provide.

While younger than Jack Harrison, Medina has been playing professionally in his home country of Paraguay since he was 15 years old, so he has more experience under his belt than Jack. Medina is also a designated player, so City might be looking to get the most production out of him, wanting him to have a starting role where he is comfortable.

With the money they would receive from Stoke for the transfer, NYC could buy down contracts for a few players. Depending on how much General Allocation Money (GAM) the team receives, it is possible Jesus Medina could be bought down to a non-DP, and NYCFC could go out and look for another designated player that could bolster the club. With MLS rules being the complicated web that they are, the more GAM or TAM a club receives, the easier it is to weave around the rules.

If NYCFC decides not to sell Jack Harrison, the club could have an abundance of forwards/midfielders, which to lead to some players unhappy about their playing time.

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Ultimately, this could create solid competition between quality attacking players. Selling Jack Harrison is something I think every NYCFC fan saw coming. The thing is, they weren’t sure when it would happen. If that time is now, the timing would be right.

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