Bradford City confirm second loan signing from Newcastle United after announcing Joe White's arrival
On Monday, it was reported that Bradford City were closing in on two loan signings from Newcastle United, but this morning, we initially only got news of one of those deals going through.
It seems that Bradford wanted to give each player their own taste of the spotlight for an hour or so after announcing Joe White's arrival, Bradford have confirmed that defender Harrison Ashby has also joined the Bantams on loan until the end of the season.
The former West Ham youth arrived at Newcastle in 2023 amid a flurry of excitement by Toon fans and a lot of disappointment from the Hammers as they felt they'd lost a potential future great.
Ashby was likened to Kieran Trippier in his style of play when he first arrived at Newcastle, but for whatever reaso,n it has never taken off for him on Tyneside.
Harrison Ashby joins Joe White at League One Bradford City
Ashby enjoyed a good loan spell at QPR last season, playing 31 times and becoming quite popular, with many expecting that the move could be made permanent.
Once again, Ashby was used regularly in pre-season for Eddie Howe to cast an eye over, but even with Newcastle's defensive injury issues right now, it seems Newcastle feel his career is best served elsewhere.
Dropping into League One is a big sign that Ashby's time on Tyneside could be coming to an end, which is a shame as we had high hopes for the lad.
Could Harrison Ashby play his way back into Eddie Howe's thoughts?
Perhaps a successful loan spell at Bradford for the remainder of this season could keep him in Eddie Howe's mind, but we're not holding our breath.
Ashby looks destined for the heap along with Garang Kuol and Ben Parkinson of players with promise that we failed to develop to their full potential.
We have to give credit to the Bantams' social media team for their pre-Ashby announcement tease. We liked that one.
