Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | [1] | 28 February 1996||
Place of birth | Málaga, Spain[1] | ||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Marbella | ||
Number | 9 | ||
Youth career | |||
2003–2009 | Fuengirola Los Boliches | ||
2009–2015 | Real Madrid | ||
2015–2017 | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2017–2018 | Málaga B | 50 | (24) |
2018–2019 | Málaga | 26 | (4) |
2019–2023 | Getafe | 0 | (0) |
2019–2020 | → Alcorcón (loan) | 13 | (0) |
2020–2021 | → Cartagena (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2021 | → Villarreal B (loan) | 11 | (2) |
2021–2022 | → Racing Santander (loan) | 17 | (2) |
2022–2023 | → Hércules (loan) | 17 | (2) |
2023– | Marbella | 3 | (2) |
International career | |||
2010–2012 | Scotland U15 | ||
2012 | Scotland U17 | 6 | (1) |
2014 | Scotland U19 | 3 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:19, 20 September 2023 (UTC) |
Jack Harper (born 28 February 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Marbella.[2] Born and raised in Spain, he represented his parents' birthplace Scotland at youth international levels.
Harper was born in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain,[1] to Scottish parents.[3][4] He speaks both English (with a Scottish accent) and Spanish.[5] He grew up in Fuengirola.[5]
His brothers Ryan and Mac were also footballers.[1] Ryan was born in Barrhead in Scotland before the family moved to Spain in the mid-1990s.[6]
Harper played for Fuengirola Los Boliches between 2003 and 2009.[1] After trialling with Sevilla and Almería, Harper signed an initial 12-month contract with Real Madrid in 2009, [4]at the age of 13.[5] He moved to Madrid to live at the club's training ground, and attended private school.[5]
In December 2012, Harper signed a new five-year contract with Real Madrid.[7] In June 2014 he signed a further contract extension with the club.[8] At the age of 18, with two years left on his contract, he chose to leave Real Madrid after the club said they wanted to loan him out.[5]
He signed for English club Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2015.[9] He was injured for the first six months of his time with Brighton.[5]
Harper returned to Spain with Málaga in January 2017.[10] He spent the end of the 2016–17 season and all of 2017–18 with the Málaga B team,[11][12] helping them to achieve promotion to the third tier via the playoffs in the latter campaign[13] having lost out due to a last-minute goal in the final round the previous year.[14]
He made his first-team debut on 18 August 2018, starting in a 2–1 away win against CD Lugo in the Segunda División.[15] He scored his first professional goal on 3 September, netting the winner in a 1–0 away success over UD Almería.[16]
Harper signed a pre-contract agreement with Getafe in February 2019 and completed the move in July.[17] On 10 August, he was loaned to second division side Alcorcón for one year.[18]
On 5 October 2020, transfer deadline day, Harper joined FC Cartagena, newly-promoted to division two, on loan for one year.[19] On 1 February 2021, he moved to Villarreal CF B in the third division, also on loan.[20] On 6 July 2021, he was loaned out to the third-tier again, this time joining Racing de Santander.[21]
On 21 July 2022, Harper moved to Hércules CF also on a one-year loan deal.[22] In July of the following year, he left Getafe.[23]
On 26 July 2023, Harper signed a one-year contract with Marbella FC in the Segunda Federación.[24]
Harper has elected to represent Scotland at international level, saying that "even though I live in Spain, I feel Scottish, so I want to make my family proud and play for my country."[4] He has stated his ambition to play for Scotland at the FIFA World Cup.[5][25][26]
He was called up by the under-15 squad in April 2010,[4] and by the under-16s in July 2011.[27] He made his under-17 national debut in August 2012.[28] He made a total of six appearances for the under-17s in 2012, scoring once.[29] He made his debut for the under-19s in August 2014, making three appearances for them that year.[30] He was dropped from the under-19s in March 2015.[31]
He was selected for the Scotland under-21 squad in March 2017,[12][32] but did not play.
Harper has been compared to Robin van Persie.[33]
Atlético Malagueño