Fulham midfielder Luke Harris is line to make his senior debut for Wales after being named in Rob Page’s squad for the opening European Championship qualifiers against Croatia and Latvia.
The attacking midfielder, who has made five appearances for Marco Silva’s side this season, was included in a senior side before the World Cup last year but has had to make his Welsh debut. The Jersey-born teenager has captained Wales at under-19 level and has scored 45 goals in 66 games for Fulham’s academy since making his under-18 debut at the start of the 2020-21 season.
The highly-rated seventeen year-old starred as Steve Wigley’s side won the under 18 Premier League south title and was fast tracked in the under-23 that Wigley led to promotion back to the PL2 top flight. He memorably scored a hat-trick inside eleven minutes for the under-21s in a 6-1 win at Newcastle last February before starting this campaign with another treble to settle the SW6 under-21 derby at Chelsea.
Harris was rewarded with a first-team debut at Crawley Town in the League Cup, before making his Premier League debut as a substitute in Fulham’s win over Aston Villa. He made another senior start in the FA Cup fourth round replay victory over Sunderland and now has a chance to make an impression at international level. Wales, who were disappointed to go out at the group stage of the World Cup, begin their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a tough tie in Split against Croatia on Saturday 25 March before facing Latvia in Cardiff on Tuesday 28 March.
Harris is joined in Page’s squad by Fulham wingers Harry Wilson and Dan James.
Good for Luke. He’s also signed a new contract with us, which will at least keep the predator clubs at arm’s length. I hope more of our academy players make the grade and progress, as we need their energy in the team.