Harry Wilson Scout Report
Such has been the rapid trajectory of Gareth Bale’s career that it is hard to remember where it started. Bale had made just 2 appearances for Southampton when he earned his first Wales cap, coming on as a substitute in a 2-1 friendly win over Trinidad and Tobago. 45 caps later and the now Real Madrid winger is the most expensive player in the world, possessing a host of individual awards.
The latest is another FAW Player of the Year award of which Bale has now won 4 times, eclipsing John Hartson and Mark Hughes who each won it on 3 occasions. It is indeed a long way since he was handed his debut for Wales by John Toshack in 2006, making him Wales’ youngest ever international player.
That record however has since been broken, falling to Harry Wilson of Liverpool who at the age of 16 years and 207 days, came on as a substitute against Belgium almost a year ago.
Background
Wilson was born in Wrexham in 1997 and was schooled in Llangollen before signing to Liverpool’s under 9s as an 8 year old in 2005. He quickly raced through the youth ranks and at the age of 15 he became a full-time member of Liverpool’s Academy.
Initially starting life with the under 15s, with whom he impressed in the Milk Cup campaign of 2012, academy officials saw fit to give him chances with the under 18s where in his first year he made 7 appearances and scored 2 goals. He started last season as a regular for the club’s under 18s and even managed to make a substitute appearance for the under 21s against Southampton.
Wilson, still aged only 16, would play a big role as Liverpool would progress to the quarter finals of the youth cup, scoring twice in a 3-1 defeat of Aston Villa in the fourth round.
After an impressive year for the youth teams, in which he ended as joint top-scorer in the Ajax Future Cup, he was handed his first professional deal with Liverpool, signing a contract in July.
That all came after the shock of his first call-up to the Welsh national team for the games with Macedonia, where he was an unused substitute, and Belgium where he earned his first cap as an 87th minute sub.
That made Wilson Liverpool’s youngest ever international player, beating Raheem Sterling by over a year, and also won his grandfather £125,000 after he placed a bet that Wilson would become an international player back when he was aged just 18 months.
Chris Coleman, who first noticed Wilson’s talent in a Victory Shield match at under-17 level, praised the young winger in the aftermath, saying “he’s been brilliant in training. He is full of enthusiasm and has shown some lovely touches.”
Style of play
It should come as no surprise, given the focus on Bale at the start of this article and Wilson’s own identification of Phillipe Coutinho as the player he most enjoys playing alongside, that the teenager is following in their talented footsteps as a left-sided winger. He is described by Liverpool’s official website as possessing “all the hallmarks of typical left winger – bags of pace, a great touch, ability and acceleration with the ball at his feet.”
Brendan Rodgers, who instigated an overhaul of Liverpool’s youth system upon taking over at the club in 2012, has insisted that all of the club’s youth sides should play 4-3-3 and Wilson’s natural ability makes him a stand-out performer for the left-sided attacking player, often cutting in from the flank with electrifying pace.
A goal for the Liverpool under-18s against Blackburn would show what he is all about; bursting down the right wing only to stop the ball at the by-line before a quick touch sees him ghost past his man and fire a shot into the near corner with his left foot. It had all the elements of Bale or even Ryan Giggs before him and hinted at the power Wilson has hidden away in the left peg of his.
Still aged just 17, Wilson is physically sleight and he glides across the turf which makes him very hard to defend against when he is dribbling at a full-back with speed. He is not short on end-product either, able to go by his man, produce a cross or try a shot from distance, he is an exciting prospect with a wand of a left-foot.
It is obvious from his build that Wilson still has a lot of growing to do and it will be important that Liverpool and Wales, whose latest squad he misses through injury, nurture him through these vital stages of physical development. Bale, for example, has a game that relies a lot on pace, power and fitness, and Wilson will be aiming to emulate the path of his fellow countryman.
Expectation will also hold a sway and Brendan Rodgers, who did well in the summer to hold off handing Wilson a squad number to avoid calls of a premature call to the senior team, will be aware of that. He will be equally conscious that Wilson’s development is best remaining in the hands, for the time being at least, of under-18 coach Neil Critchley who has a proud record of youth development at Crewe Alexandra
Andre Wisdom, Jordan Rossiter, Jon Flanagan and even Sterling himself have passed through Liverpool’s youth system in recent years and shown that it can be achieved with hard work and patience. Gareth Bale, who emerged from similar beginnings with Southampton 8 years ago, will do well to point that out to the 17 year old Wilson, the young pretender ready to follow in ultra-talented shoes.
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