£30m price tag slapped on Leeds’ hero

LEEDS United have slapped a price tag of around £30m on winger Jack Harrison in an attempt to ward off any interest from Newcastle United.

The Whites look set to lose both Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha in the coming days.

Phillips will join Manchester City for £42m while Raphinha is in talks with Chelsea over a £55m move.

After Phillips and Raphinha, Harrison is arguably Leeds’ best player.

The 25-year-old has scored eight goals in back-to-back Premier League seasons for Leeds and is highly rated by Newcastle.

However, Leeds do not want to lose Harrison this summer.

While they have added Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen and Marc Roca to Jesse Marsch’s firstteam squad this summer, losing Harrison as well as Phillips and Raphinha would be a massive setback for Leeds.

As a result, Leeds have slapped a price tag thought to be in the region of around £30m on the winger which they hope will deter Newcastle from making an advance.

The big price tag likely means Newcastle, who are keen on adding quality out wide this summer, will look elsewhere.

They could be tempted to go back in for Harrison should Leeds drop their price but it seems unlikely Newcastle will do business with the Whites at that price.

Harrison was Leeds’ hero on the final day of the season, scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory over Brentford which helped to keep them in the top flight.

Meanwhile, Tottenham are close to completing the capture of Richarlison after agreeing a deal with Everton on Wednesday night.

The Brazil forward will now undergo a medical overseas as Spurs bid to wrap up a transfer that could top £50m.

Richarlison is now in line to follow Fraser Forster, Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma as Tottenham’s fourth summer signing.

Spurs are understood to have fended off competition from Arsenal and Chelsea to recruit Richarlison.

Tottenham are said to have been seeking a forward who can play right across the frontline for some time, the north Londoners confident the 25-year-old Richarlison fits that bill.

Richarlison notched 53 goals in 152 games in four years at Everton, joining the Toffees in 2018 after a year at Watford.

Everton, meanwhile, are set to offer Washington-born goalkeeper Jordan Pickford a new deal.