Aidy Boothroyd admits his more recent habit of tuning in to watch MLS games “just before Match of the Day” helped make his decision to call up Jack Harrison.
The New York City FC forward joined Boothroyd’s England U21 squad earlier this week, to strengthen the group after the injured Sheyi Ojo and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were withdrawn.
And the head coach believes the former Manchester United academy product deserves a chance to show what he can do on the international stage after a productive two years in the Big Apple.
“We’ve been aware of him for about a year,” revealed Boothroyd. “He first came on our radar from some of the scouting.
“He’s been doing really well for NYC and he’s been playing with one or two reasonable players.
“Our scouting department through Richard Allen would have had a look, I followed it up and Dan’s [Ashworth] had a look.
“When we do our player audits, which we do every six months, we have a long list of players and then we have players who have been fighting to get into it.
“He was one of those who came up and we followed it up. I thought this time around he deserved a crack.
“If his stats are where they are at in terms of his goals and assists, and we’ve watched a few games remotely, he looks like someone who could add to us.”
With the majority of the U21s squad playing for Premier League clubs or in the Championship, Boothroyd admits the fact Harrision plays in a different league had no real bearing on his decision.
And after seeing the 20-year-old in his first training session on Wednesday after a hectic few days since arriving at St. George’s Park late on Monday night, he revealed that Harrison slotted in with no problem.
“It shows you the way the pathway has changed or is changing,” he said.
“There’s no hard or fast route. Some go abroad and play and now we have someone who goes away and ends up playing for New York City and ends up doing really well.
“Measuring the league is always difficult and different but we have decided to bring him in and have a closer look and he doesn’t look out of place.
“He looks better than fine in the group and has trained well.”
Boothroyd’s squad head north on Thursday ahead of their game with Scotland in Middlesbrough on Friday.
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