Jack Harrison is unsalted bread

As the line-ups for Fiorentina’s goalless home draw against Sassuolo were announced late on Sunday morning, the young fans trudging through the gates at Artemio Franchi in front of me looked at their phones with bemusement.

This was basically a dead rubber as their side’s flirtation with relegation had subsided, but they couldn’t quite comprehend the team their manager Paolo Vanoli had named. Jack Harrison and Manor Solomon started on either wing with no real alternative on the bench because four wide options were injured alongside both centre-forwards.

Albert Gudmundsson moved from the left wing to a false nine role and, almost immediately, it was clear to most inside the ground that this was going to be a long day of toothless attacking from Fiorentina on a hot April afternoon, as the lack of a real focal point left them passing the ball around in hope rather than expectation of anything happening.

Watching the sweat lash off Harrison and Solomon during the warm up, I felt for them as I stood in the shade. They could have been back in England at Leeds (or elsewhere) in a more moderate climate, but instead were baking at upwards of 25 celsius with the sun directly above their heads — and the hopes of Fiorentina’s attack on their shoulders.

Fifteen matches into 2025/26, Fiorentina were bottom with no wins and only six points, having sacked manager Stefano Pioli and sporting director Daniele Prade, the latter having been accused of falling out with last season’s manager Raffaele Palladino and pissing him off so much that he quit after finishing 6th in Serie A.

Vanoli came in and attempted to implement his 4-3-3 system in a team with no wingers, hence the arrival of Solomon at the start of January and Harrison shortly after. The former hit the ground running with two goals and some all-round positive attacking displays in his first few games had Fiorentina fans hopeful of signing him permanently, but injury kept him out for seven weeks from late February until recently.

Solomon missed pre-season through injury and spent four months warming Villarreal’s bench before joining Fiorentina, and he looked off the boil in what was only his second start since returning from a thigh problem. The ability to beat an opponent one-on-one is there, but his decision making after that point seemed tired and laboured. He missed a gilt-edged chance in the 31st minute that prompted a teenage boy sitting near us to wail in despair in his half-broken voice.

Harrison linked up well with his full-back Dodo down the right hand side in the first half. He seems more at home than he did on his usual left wing at Leeds and even came into this game having scored a peach in a vital draw at Lecce a few days earlier.

He has been an acquired taste for Fiorentina fans, a little like the city’s famously unsalted bread — which is apparently plain because of a war with neighbours Pisa centuries early, who withheld salt from the city of Florence during the conflict.

Florentine bread is unglamorous, but it serves a purpose by mopping up sauces. He’s by no means the goalscoring wide man crafted by Marcelo Bielsa, but there’s been a growing sentiment among the media covering Fiorentina that, after a slow start, there might just be a future for Jack Harrison at the club. A sauce-mopping winger, whatever that means.

At the right price, of course. By which I mean that their sporting director Fabio Paratici will do absolutely everything within his power to pay as little as possible. The reported buyout clause of €10m will be whittled down to whatever Leeds could reluctantly accept, either this summer or next, although they may wish to remind Paratici of his batted eyes towards Harrison while in the same role at Spurs in January 2023, when a much bigger fee would have been on the cards.

Before last weekend, the overwhelming sentiment in Florence was: Solomon yes, Harrison no. But things change quickly in football. Some have asked if Solomon’s head is elsewhere, presumably because he recently spoke about his time at Fiorentina in the past tense while his performances since returning from injury have been underwhelming.

Harrison flattered to deceive upon arriving from Leeds in mid-January, but he has grown across these past two months. Italian coaches demand tactical flexibility and adaptability, which Harrison boasts along with exceptional work rate. As evidenced by a few wail-inducing moments on Sunday before being withdrawn in the 66th minute having run himself into the ground, attacking end product is still his Achilles heel — though he would point to assists in two 1-0 victories and the goal at Lecce all this month as a counter to that argument.

While few would argue with Solomon being the better out and out winger of the two, the one most capable of creating attacking opportunities, his inability to stay fit other than one season in the English second tier in 2024/25 may mean Fiorentina see him as too much of a punt.

Harrison looks like more of a safe, unglamorous bet for a club who will switch coaches in the summer, especially with names like Maurizio Sarri and Thiago Motta linked with the job. Both love a winger who can run his socks off and that’s Harrison’s Ronseal attribute.

There won’t be a Viola fan around who’d openly celebrate the permanence of Harrison at their club, but I can’t imagine they’d riot like they did when Fiorentina sold Roberto Baggio to Juventus in 1990. A shrug of the shoulders and waiting for someone more exciting to arrive seems more likely.

There were 21,700 fans inside Fiorentina’s building site of a stadium — currently under renovation for Euro 2032 — and none were too effusive in their praise for either player, nor were they too annoyed. The draw cemented their place in next season’s Serie A, which is all they wanted from this campaign.

As for next year, a new man will be in the dugout and there’s even talk of the club being sold. Jack Harrison has two years left on his deal at Leeds United, but if Fiorentina wanted some unsalted bread to go with their grand plans moving forward, then they may just find a way to keep him around as a squad option for another year. Or two.

(Photo via LaPresse/Alamy Live News)