Winger who Downed Barcelona on Trial with West Ham
Young prospect Harry Lee could soon be at the centre of a tug-of-war between three clubs, after impressing scouts at our last trial.
11-year-old Harry captivated the on looking scouts at our event in West London earlier this year and has seemingly tripled his number of potential suitors.
The young winger, who can also play in central-midfield, has been training at West Ham United’s Talent ID Centre since our trial and is set to return for another session in early April, while Reading have also expressed an interest.
The Championship club look set to follow up their interest and send a scout to watch Harry play again – potentially in his upcoming League Cup Final for Worthing Town Blues u11’s next week.
However, if either club decides to cement their interest with the offer of a place at their academy they could find a fight on their hands – Harry has been at Brighton since he was six-years-old and now finds himself in a position most 11-year-olds around the country could only dream of.
Harry’s Mum, Sara, said: “He’s loved it with West Ham so far, they offered him a place at the talent ID centre automatically through UK Football Trials and from here they’ll decide whether to take him into their academy.
“He seemed to do very well there, I think because he’s been with Brighton for so long he’s used to the level and had no problem stepping in to that environment.”
It comes as no surprise that Harry took to life at a Premier League club so well, when just last year he was part of a side that beat Barcelona u10’s.
“He’s been playing for the Pro Direct Academy for a while and last year they flew out to Spain to play Barcelona and they actually beat them,” said Sara.
Harry will be hoping to repeat last year’s feat when he faces Juventus in a few months time.
Despite being scouted from our trial in February, Sara explained that this was actually the second UK Football Trial that her son had attended and revealed how she thinks that helped him catch the eye of the scouts.
“He was actually scouted by three clubs last year as well – one of them were Reading again funnily enough – but nothing ever came of it so we brought him back for another try,” explained Sara.
“And this time he was a lot more confident because he knew what it was all about and what to expect so I think that definitely helped him a lot.”
She added: “Harry loved both of the trials, he liked playing with the older boys and he got a lot from it.”
Harry will continue to train with West Ham over the coming weeks while a decision is made on his future, and we will bring you more updates from Reading and Brighton as we get them.