Current Team - Getafe
Nationality - Scottish
Age - 23
Height – 185cm
Position - Forward
League Career stats
2016/2017 Malaga B – Spanish 4th Tier – 17 apps 11 goals
2017/2018 Malaga B – Spanish 4th Tier – 37 apps 13 goals
2018/2019 Malaga – Spanish Segunda – 24 apps 4 goals
Overview
Harper has long been viewed with intrigue from Scotland, the novelty of having someone Scottish on the books at Real Madrid but apparently not good enough to be called up for the Scottish Youth teams. It was yet another example of the archaic views employed by the SFA when Ricky Sbragia didn’t want to call him up because he “wasn’t physical enough” and he wanted a squad with more height. In hindsight the decision to leave Harper out for a player like Harry Cardwell (you will most likely need to google him) could be part of the reason Sbragia finds himself unemployed. Harper broke into the Malaga first team last season and did enough to earn a move to Getafe for 1.5 million Euros this summer. It remains to be seen if they keep him or loan him out, but lets have a look at what Getafe have bought. Strengths
Dribbling – Harper's mix of Spanish Elegance and Scottish “just run with it” style of dribbling is devastatingly effective. Its bizarre to watch because at times he can keep the ball in a tight space and spin to make room for a cross , yet he also has the ability to use his rangy running style to run past players in open space. He created numerous chances for Malaga last season picking up the second ball from corners and free kicks near the byline and engineering space under significant pressure. This ability around the box makes him dangerous by creating chances for teammates and forcing the opposition to foul him in dangerous areas.
Playing with his back to goal – Harper’s intelligence and ability when it comes to holding the ball up and playing in his teammates is outstanding. Of course, his hold up style is predicated through vision and his first touch rather than strength. Malaga played last season with Harper wide or dropping into the number 10 position, so he picks the ball up deep, and it allows him to pick a pass to his wingers or striker making runs beyond him. His touch and the way he uses his body tempts the marker to dive in leaving Harper space to run past them or opens a gap for him to play a ball through to a team mate. The best example of this is his goal against Almeria last season, he picks it up a the half way line, spins his marker to play the winger in and continues the run into the box and finishes the move.
Tactical fouls/defending – Absolutely anti-Scottish and much more appreciated on the continent, but Harper showed a knack of committing “niggly” fouls to break up opposition counter attacks and allow his team to regroup. He offers more defensively though, last season he averaged just under 2 interceptions a game and won the ball back 3 times a game in the opposition half.
Weaknesses
Finishing – Harper does tend to play more as an attacking midfielder than a number 9, but he should still score more goals. Most notably in his last game for Malaga he blazed a glorious chance over the bar in the playoff loss to Deportivo La Coruna that could have turned the tie back in Malaga’s favour. He only gets around 30% of his shots on target and seems to lack composure and technique when shooting. His goals are mostly tap ins or instinctive, he needs to improve his finishing when he has time to think about it.
Injuries – Obviously not his fault but Harper has a history of knee injuries and missed a lot of games through injury last season also. As a player trying to establish himself at a higher level, hopefully he will have some luck and stay fit to take any chances he gets to play.
Future potential
Harper has made no secret that he wants to play for Scotland at a world cup. He’s completely different to any other player in the Scotland side at the moment and would bring a completely different dimension. For Steve Clark it comes down to his ability to recognise Harper’s strengths and find a way to utilise them which will determine how much of a success he could be for Scotland. Personally I feel he has more chance to succeed under this management team compared to previous regimes who would have stuck him on the wing and subbed him at half time. Getafe massively overachieved last season and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them lose their best players. Samu Saiz appears to be headed back to Leeds so Harper could fill that role, and if he can learn how to finish from a player like Jorge Molina he could turn into a very fine player indeed.
Thanks for reading! for more reports please follow my twitter @scoutscottish and let me know what you think of the player.