Why Australia’s newest Premier League star reminds me of a young Harry Kewell

When Lucas Herrington was linked to Barcelona during the World Cup , I’m sure there were plenty of Australian fans who were excited about the prospect of seeing one of our own in that famous shirt.

That would be a pretty substantial downgrade if you were planning a holiday. But for a young footballer, I’m not so sure it is a downgrade at all.

Only time will tell, but I think Herrington may have made exactly the right move for his career at exactly the right time.

For some players, the prestige and/or location of a club is a big factor in their decision when it comes to transfers. When I was playing, it was always about the football for me: what league does the club play in, what is their plan and where do I fit into it?

I learnt from experience. After I left Germany, where I had limited opportunities, I decided I would never move to another club again without first speaking to the manager. Do they believe in me? Do they actually want me? How much will I play? I needed to hear it from them, in their words.

I would imagine Herrington and his representatives went through all of these questions. Look, it’s Barcelona; it’s a difficult one to turn down, and they weren’t the only big club after him. But he’s only 18, and at his age, nothing is more important than playing football. His progression so far has been phenomenal – which is exactly why you don’t want that progression to be stunted, and that was the risk.

He should play a fair bit of football for Hull, who are back in the Premier League for the first time in a decade. They have a very ambitious owner, Turkish media mogul Acun Ilıcalı, who decided to spend $24 million on Herrington, which could rise with add-ons. Clubs don’t do that for a player they intend to have sitting on the bench.

Hull have never finished higher than 16th in the Premier League, and it was a bit of a surprise that they got promoted last season through the Championship play-offs, so they undoubtedly face a challenge to stay up. But if you are good enough as a player, people will see it regardless of where your team sits on the table, and that’s the opportunity in front of Lucas now.

Playing as a centre-back for a newly promoted club means he will have a lot of defending to do. I actually think that could be good for him. He will make mistakes. He will have difficult afternoons. There will be strikers who expose parts of his game he still needs to improve. That is how you develop – and he does need to develop.

Having said that, he’s obviously a fantastic player already: he’s very clever, a real modern-day centre-back who reads the game very well, and is comfortable with the ball at his feet. I saw him train with the Socceroos for the first time in March at Leichhardt Oval , when Tony Popovic first called him up. From day one, the kid did not look fazed by anything. He looked completely at ease. At the World Cup, it looked like he’d already played for the national team 50 times.

He reminds me a bit of Harry Kewell when he first burst onto the scene with the Socceroos.