Who is Luke Harris? The Fulham youngster Chelsea are willing to spend £30m on

Stuart Telford

Updated: 25 Sept 2022 17:29 BST
4 min read

Chelsea are reportedly ready to spend £30 million (€33.6m) on Fulham youngster Luke Harris, who scored a hat-trick against them at under-21 level earlier this year.

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Todd Boehly has wasted little time in exerting his influence since succeeding Roman Abramovich in ownership of Chelsea in May, overhauling the backroom roles at the club and spending nearly €300m in the transfer market.

While arrivals like Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were headline-grabbing ones, €38m of that outlay went on teenagers Carney Chukwuemeka and Gabriel Slonina, who arrived from Aston Villa and Chicago Fire respectively.

And Harris could be the next young player acquired by Chelsea as part of Boehly's "Vision 2030" strategy.

The Jersey-born 17-year-old represents Wales at internationally, for whom he is capped up to under-19 level, but it would only be a short trip round the corner for him from Craven Cottage to Stamford Bridge.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Senior @Cymru call-up.
🏆 Goal in the #PL Cup.
✍️ First professional deal at #FFC.

A week in the life of Luke Harris. pic.twitter.com/YiZ9ZIYgJT
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) September 16, 2022

What position does Harris play in?

Although widely reported to be a forward after scoring a hat-trick for Fulham against Chelsea when their under-21 sides met in August, Harris is in fact a midfielder, who is normally to be found in the heart of the action but also likes to drift inside from the left.

Diminutive now but still growing, he uses his quick feet to get out of tight spaces, and quick thinking to thread through-balls to more attacking teammates.

How good is Harris?

Harris is currently on full international duty with Wales, where he awaits his first senior cap, potentially against Poland on Sunday. He was handed his first pro contract by Fulham earlier this month, upon which manager Marco Silva promised him minutes.

"He'll get games," said the Portuguese tactician. "He'll be on the bench; he'll have some minutes. We have to be patient with him, and not push pressure on him."

Harris might not have to wait too long to play, though. He also has a knack for late breaks into the box - hence his 28 goals in 38 games at youth level - and Chelsea hope to have scouted a player somewhere between Frank Lampard and Joe Cole stylistically.

What clubs are interested in Harris?

Harris's first hat-trick at youth level came against Newcastle in Premier League 2 in February, and most of English football have been keeping tabs since. He remains loyal to Fulham for now, though.

"I'm really pleased to extend my time here at Fulham having been here from a young age," he said recently.

Chelsea could face competition from Liverpool for his services, too, with the Reds having plucked Harvey Elliot and Fabio Carvalho from Fulham's youth academy already in recent seasons.