‘It challenges you’: Laila Harbert on playing with boys and her journey from Arsenal to Portland | Arsenal Women

TThe headline on the Arsenal website in early August 2023 was short and sweet. “A trio of teenagers will join Watford on a double deal,” it read. That trio included Michelle Agyemang and Katie Reid, two players whose names were known to even the most passionate fans at the time and who have been part of the mainstream conversation ever since for extremely positive reasons. More recently, they made headlines for an even more devastating reason, having both suffered ACL injuries.

In any footballer’s career, you need a bit of luck, as well as a manager brave enough to take the chance. The knee injury that led to Leah Williamson missing the start of the Women’s Super League season resulted in Reid getting an opportunity in the first team, while Alessia Russo’s ankle knock led to Agyemang’s first England call-up in April. Both subsequently shone, making the forced interruptions of their respective professional careers particularly cruel.

So what of the third player to join Watford from Arsenal in a double deal just over two years ago? Is she, too, hungry for a chance to force down Arsenal’s door 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 – she was also at Southampton – midway through the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season as she looks to increase 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 over the past six months as special. “It motivates you to earn the right to be in this position, to keep working and to have your chance,” says Harbert, who signed his first professional contract with Arsenal in January and made his debut last month for England Under-23s.

Reflecting on the Agyemang and Reid injuries, 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 needs to be done to find solutions that protect us. As soon as I return to England, I’ll be there to support them.”

Harbert was nine years old when she joined Arsenal’s academy, and two years later she was asked what she would think of training in the boys’ academy, which had by then become the norm at the club. She took advantage of the opportunity and trained with them, as well as the women’s teams, until her mid-teens. “It challenges you on the little details,” says Harbert. “The boys are naturally faster and stronger, so it’s about knowing how to use my technical abilities to avoid getting into some duels where I might be behind. They play a little faster too, so you’re getting better at moving the ball at high speeds. I really showed how much that improved me when I came 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 to be closer to Arsenal’s training base, the idea being that fewer long journeys would improve her performance. For Harbert, it showed “the commitment the whole family had to me, a 10-year-old with a vision.”

Harbert was on the bench during the Thorns’ dramatic overtime win over the San Diego Wave on Sunday to set up Saturday’s NWSL playoff semifinal against Washington Spirit, who finished four points above them in the regular season. His loan ends at the end of Portland’s playoff run, which they hope will end with a victory in the finals on November 22.

Afterwards, who knows? Arsenal are waiting until the playoffs are over before speaking to Herbert about the next step in his development. And that process can be a long one, with fewer and fewer opportunities for teenagers to access first-team football in an increasingly professionalized WSL. “There’s no hiding the fact that the average age in the WSL is around 25-26,” says Harbert. “At 18, you’re sitting there thinking, ‘When will this be possible for me?’ The main thing at my age is just getting senior minutes and that senior exposure under my belt.

“If it doesn’t happen at my parent club, then they have a plan in place for me that’s not just about 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’s a bigger picture and that all of these loans are given with the aim of me eventually coming back to Arsenal and then hopefully competing to begin with.

“Sometimes I tend to get so caught up in the outcome and the idea I have in my head of where I want to be. It 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 that takes me in the future, and enjoy along the way.”