Rob Page has hinted that he will hand Fulham midfielder Luke Harris his Welsh senior debut during Wednesday’s friendly against Gibraltar in Wrexham.
The Jersey-born teenager has been named in a number of senior squads without making a senior appearance despite starring for the Welsh youth sides over the past three years. The talented number ten was all set to join Exeter City on loan on deadline day only for Fulham to pull out of the deal when Joao Palhinha’s move to Bayern Munich collapsed – and Harris made his only first-team appearance of the season the following afternoon at Manchester City when Tom Cairney limped off after a quarter of an hour.
Page told BBC Wales:
“I think it’s the time to introduce these youngsters and have a look. Some of these were in the younger age groups so I’ve worked with them, I know their potential and it’s lovely seeing them progress. They’re showing a lot of potential and the benefits of training camps with our Under-21s is that we can stagger training and when our training is over we walk over and watch them train.
If there’s any that we think that are ready for the next level then we’ll give them that opportunity to train with us. We’ve done it with a couple of players and every time they’ve stepped up and trained with us they’ve impressed. This for me is the perfect opportunity to show supporters what we’ve got coming through but for me to have closer look at them. We’re going to have three days working on grass with them and give them the opportunity to play a first team competitive game.”
The Wales boss spoke about Harris, who scored in Fulham under-21s’ 4-0 win over Leicester City in the Premier League Cup before joining up with his country, and referenced his disappointment at not getting the chance to play regular first-team football.
“He was desperate to go out on loan and injuries at the club dictated he couldn’t leave. The thing is with young players, they’ve got no clout to go and insist that they go and leave and play games. He got on [and] had minutes against Man City, great for him, but his development long term he’s going to be a little but behind now. I just think this is the perfect game for him.”
The eighteen year-old, who scored his first Welsh under-21 goal against Lithuania last month, extended his Craven Cottage contract in March after impressing Marco Silva after breaking into the Fulham senior side last season.
