When Lucas Herrington was linked to Barcelona during the World Cup, I’m sure there were plenty of Australian fans who were excited about the prospect of seeing one of our own in that famous shirt.
Instead, he’s ended up at Hull City.
That would be a pretty substantial downgrade if you were planning a holiday. But for a young footballer, I’m not so sure it is a downgrade at all.
Only time will tell, but I think Herrington may have made exactly the right move for his career at exactly the right time.
For some players, the prestige and/or location of a club is a big factor in their decision when it comes to transfers. When I was playing, it was always about the football for me: what league does the club play in, what is their plan and where do I fit into it?
I learnt from experience. After I left Germany, where I had limited opportunities, I decided I would never move to another club again without first speaking to the manager. Do they believe in me? Do they actually want me? How much will I play? I needed to hear it from them, in their words.
I would imagine Herrington and his representatives went through all of these questions. Look, it’s Barcelona; it’s a difficult one to turn down, and they weren’t the only big club after him. But he’s only 18, and at his age, nothing is more important than playing football. His progression so far has been phenomenal – which is exactly why you don’t want that progression to be stunted, and that was the risk.
He should play a fair bit of football for Hull, who are back in the Premier League for the first time in a decade. They have a very ambitious owner, Turkish media mogul Acun Ilıcalı, who decided to spend $24 million on Herrington, which could rise with add-ons. Clubs don’t do that for a player they intend to have sitting on the bench.
Hull have never finished higher than 16th in the Premier League, and it was a bit of a surprise that they got promoted last season through the Championship play-offs, so they undoubtedly face a challenge to stay up. But if you are good enough as a player, people will see it regardless of where your team sits on the table, and that’s the opportunity in front of Lucas now.
Playing as a centre-back for a newly promoted club means he will have a lot of defending to do. I actually think that could be good for him. He will make mistakes. He will have difficult afternoons. There will be strikers who expose parts of his game he still needs to improve. That is how you develop – and he does need to develop.
Having said that, he’s obviously a fantastic player already: he’s very clever, a real modern-day centre-back who reads the game very well, and is comfortable with the ball at his feet. I saw him train with the Socceroos for the first time in March at Leichhardt Oval, when Tony Popovic first called him up. From day one, the kid did not look fazed by anything. He looked completely at ease. At the World Cup, it looked like he’d already played for the national team 50 times.
He reminds me a bit of Harry Kewell when he first burst onto the scene with the Socceroos. They’re obviously different players – and Harry was a lot further down the line when he made his debut for Australia because he was already playing on and off in the Premier League for Leeds United – but I mean the way in which he’s been able to deal with the pressure and the expectation. It looks effortless, but we all know it’s not.
He has risen to every level so far: first in the A-League, then Major League Soccer in the US, the Socceroos and then the World Cup. Those are some big steps up, and nothing’s changed in his game.
If he starts against Manchester United on Saturday night (9.30pm, AEST), as I hope and expect he will, he will be making another big step. This one is different. The Premier League is on par with the World Cup in terms of pressure, but now it’s more intense, because it’s 38 games plus all the cup competitions.
It’s going to be full-on for him. The attention of the world is on you as a player in the Premier League. Yes, that’s more for certain clubs than others, no doubt about it, but there is always a bit of a spotlight on the promoted clubs. And there will certainly be more pressure and more eyes on Lucas from Australia, too. That’s only natural.
For him, it’s about settling in as quickly as he can, getting everything sorted and focusing on football; on playing his game, playing to his strengths and playing to the manager’s plan.
Will he play every game? Who knows? But I think he’ll play a really big role for Hull City this season.
It’s fantastic for Australian football that we have another one of our own to follow in the Premier League again.
- Mark Schwarzer is a football analyst for Stan Sport
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Mark Schwarzer played 109 internationals from Australia between 1993 and 2013, including at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.From our partners
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