The headline on Arsenal’s website in early August 2023 was short and sweet. “Teenage trio to join Watford on dual agreement,” it read. That trio included Michelle Agyemang and Katie Reid, two players whose names were known to the keenest of fans then and who have since become part of mainstream conversation for hugely positive reasons. More recently they have hit the headlines for a more devastating reason, having both sustained anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
In any footballer’s career a bit of good fortune is needed, alongside a manager being brave enough to take a chance on you. The knee injury that led to Leah Williamson missing the start of the Women’s Super League season created the space for Reid to be given an opportunity in the first team, while an Alessia Russo ankle knock led to Agyemang’s first England call-up in April. Both subsequently shone, making the forced interruptions to their respective professional journeys especially cruel.
What, then, of the third player to join Watford from Arsenal on a dual agreement a little over two years ago? Is she, too, hungry for a chance to force the door open at Arsenal as soon as it opens a crack? Well, her name is Laila Harbert, an 18-year-old midfielder who joined Portland Thorns this summer, her third loan move – she was also at Southampton – coming midway through the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season as she looks to up the intensity and level of her playing experience.
Speaking to the Guardian from Portland, Harbert describes watching Agyemang and Reid do what they’ve done in the past six months as special. “It motivates you to earn the right to get in that position and keep working and for your chance,” says Harbert, who signed her first professional contract with Arsenal in January and last month made her debut for England Under-23.
Reflecting on the ACL injuries sustained by Agyemang and Reid, Harbert describes herself as “gutted”, saying: “It’s the kind of news you never want anyone to receive, especially about your closest friends. It’s a worrying time for us as players, with the number of ACL injuries continuing to rise. It’s clear that something needs to change and more must be done to find solutions that protect us. As soon as I’m back in England, I’ll be straight there to support them.”
Harbert was nine when she joined Arsenal’s academy and, two years later, she was asked how she would feel about training in the boys’ academy, something that by then had become the norm at the club. She took the opportunity and trained with them, as well as with the girls’ teams, until her mid-teens. “It challenges you on the small details,” says Harbert. “Boys naturally are faster and stronger, so it becomes about how I can use my technical ability to avoid getting into some of the duels that maybe I would be on the back foot for. They play a bit faster too, so you get better at moving the ball at high speeds. How much it had improved me really showed when I went back into the girls’ environment.”
The midfielder’s family made sacrifices so she could pursue a career in football, including moving from south London to Hertfordshire so she was closer to Arsenal’s training base, the idea being that fewer long drives would aid her performance levels. For Harbert that showed “the commitment that the whole family had for me, a 10-year-old with a vision”.
Harbert was on the bench for Thorns’ dramatic extra-time win over San Diego Wave on Sunday to set up Saturday’s NWSL playoff semi-final against Washington Spirit, who finished four points above them in the regular season. Her loan ends when Portland’s playoff run is over, which, they hope, will be with victory in the final on 22 November.
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After that, who knows? Arsenal are waiting until after the playoffs before they speak to Harbert about the next stage of her development. And that process can be long, with fewer and fewer opportunities for teens to get first-team football in an increasingly professionalised WSL. “There’s no point in shying away from the fact that the average age in the WSL is about 25-26,” says Harbert. “At 18 you are sitting there thinking: ‘When is that going to be possible for me?’ The main thing at my age is just to be getting senior minutes in and that senior exposure under my belt.
“If it’s not going to be at my parent club then they have a plan in place for me that isn’t just limited to these loans; it’s a longer-term plan that I’ve bought into and they’ve bought into. That’s been the most important thing for me throughout, understanding that there is a bigger picture and all of these loans are done with the aim of me eventually coming back to Arsenal and then hopefully competing to start.
“Sometimes I tend to get so wrapped up in the outcome and the idea that I have in my head of where I want to be. That can make you forget what really matters, which is enjoying it. So it’s about refining what success is for me day by day and month by month, working on what I can control, doing what it takes to be the best version of myself to see where it gets me in the future, and enjoying it along the way.”
