Rekeem Harper has played just 11 Championship minutes all season, but West Brom have big hopes for the reported Leeds United, QPR and Fulham target.
West Bromwich Albion coach Slaven Bilic is confident that Rekeem Harper has a huge future at The Hawthorns after batting away interest from Leeds United and QPR in the highly-rated midfielder, speaking to the Birmingham Mail.
This time last year, a 19-year-old academy graduate was quickly establishing himself as one of the first names on The Baggies’ team sheet.
But Harper has seen his progress stall under Bilic, to the point where even a place in the matchday squad appeared to be out of his grasp.
According to The Sun (19 January, page 65), Leeds, QPR, Fulham and Charlton were all hoping to take advantage of the teenager’s fall from grace by offering him an escape route out of West Brom before the January transfer window came to an end.
But, after handing Harper his first outing since August during Saturday’s 2-0 win against Luton Town, Bilic has now broken his silence about a player who, despite playing just 11 minutes of Championship football all season, is still highly regarded at The Hawthorns.
“Rekeem for me, I have spoken to him, he is definitely the future of the club,” said a Croatian tactician.
“He is the present of the club also and that is why he was involved today and he came on and did a good job. I like Rekeem.”
It remains to be seen, however, whether Bilic backs up his claims and hands Harper a bigger role in the weeks to come. It is worth remembering that the England U19 international is still just a teenager and, with West Brom boasting a midfield full of class and experience, it should not be a surprise that Harper has found minutes hard to come by.
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