At the age of 13, Jack Harrison flew 5,000 miles to forge a career in football, after turning his back on Manchester United. Now at New York City, it is looking like the perfect decision for the 20-year-old.
He opted against staying in the comfortable and familiar surroundings of Manchester United's academy, preferring to relocate to the United States. After seven years on the other side of the Atlantic, Harrison has now been called up by England Under-21s for their upcoming Euro 2019 qualifiers against Scotland and Andorra.
Harrison played with Marcus Rashford on a handful of occasions at Carrington, but chose to move to the private Berkshire School in Massachusetts after seeing some players achieve their dream with the Red Devils but many others fail miserably. Fortune favours the brave, they say. And Harrison is finding that out first-hand.
In January 2016, the Englishman who remained unknown in England became the No 1 draft pick by Chicago Fire before New York City swooped in for the youngster. He went from living in Stoke-on-Trent to training with Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa.
'He's got a natural ability on the ball. Some players just know when to pass, when to dribble and they have a natural ability to skip past people', Lampard said of him last July. 'At 18, I've seen a lot of good players with ability and Jack's the latest. He's up there with as good ability as I've seen at that age'.
Harrison received his international summons last week along with an immediate congratulatory message from his friend Frank Lampard.
'So happy for you', the Chelsea legend wrote. 'You have done so well to recover from all the nutmegs you received in the boxes last year to get there. Top man you deserve it and more'.
His status back home in the United Kingdom is only starting to build up, but he is already a familiar face in the MLS and is part of the England U-21 squad. 'I never thought this would happen when I moved out here. It's a special moment and I'm going to cherish it', he said of his England call. There will be plenty more special moments to come.
"Big things to come from Jack."
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) 25 June 2017
Former #NYCFC midfielder Frank Lampard on @Harrison_Jack11: https://t.co/KLoIvklfGi pic.twitter.com/I7qcnd2GLl
Frank Lampard's comment on Jack Harrison's farewell post (@Harrison_Jack11) #MLS
— Champagne Soccer (@SoccerChampagne) 15 November 2016
What a legendpic.twitter.com/wRcZVgoB6u