What Sheffield Wednesday winger has said about Neil Warnock as links with Middlesbrough intensify

Soon-to-be out-of-contract Sheffield Wednesday winger Kadeem Harris could be on his way to a dramatic reunion with his former manager Neil Warnock, according to reports.
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The wide man, who arrived in a whirlwind of early success after his free transfer switch from Cardiff City at the start of last season, has been a near constant feature in the Wednesday side throughout his time at Hillsborough.

But with his contract dwindling, it has been reported that he could be set for a move to Middlesbrough, with Watford, Stoke and Reading also having shown an interest.

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Harris worked with Warnock at Cardiff in both the Championship and the Premier League before his 2019 release.

Kadeem Harris has been linked with a reunion with Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock.Kadeem Harris has been linked with a reunion with Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock.
Kadeem Harris has been linked with a reunion with Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock.

Speaking exclusively to The Star in November of that year, he opened up on his relationship with the former Sheffield United boss, who has since taken Middlesbrough from the relegation zone into playoff contention.

“He kind of advised that it was probably best for me to move on,” Harris said.

“He said ‘I'd have you here for years, but your chances might not be any more regular than they are now’. He likes me as a person and likes me as a player, so he advised me it was probably time to move on, he said ‘it's time to kick on now as a player and play some more regular football’.

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“Not many other managers would have said that to me. I respect him for that.

“We had a good relationship. It started off really well and then I got injured for a long period of time when the team got promoted.

“Ever since that time it felt like it didn’t matter what I could've done, I never felt like I got the same opportunity as some others.

“It was one thing after another at Cardiff, it was a bit of a negative time down there, but I learned a lot and I can't think of it like that. I learned a lot as a pro, I had a lot of good pros around me and I learned from them. It's made me very head strong as well so I'll never be annoyed or down about my time there.

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“In the end it was positive because of what I've learned there and how I've progressed as a person.”

Asked of the reasons behind Harris’ release from Cardiff around that time, Warnock reported no issues between the two men.

“He’s given them directness, pace and power,” he said. “He’s got every attribute. I can’t praise him highly enough.

“We had a chat last year, around Christmas time, and he trained like a Trojan. We have been blessed with good wide players and he just couldn’t get a long run.”

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“He needed a run of games and when we spoke about his contract at the end of the season, his father represented him, and the sort of money they were talking about, he had to be a regular in my team. And I didn’t feel I could 100 percent assure him of that.

“What we could offer him, he could get a lot more elsewhere and he could play. So there’s no real issue to me and I said 'good luck to you'.”

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