A year ago, Jack Harrison was playing in a US Youth Soccer league. Today, he sits next to teammate and former England international Frank Lampard in a Major League Soccer dressing room. “Yeah it is crazy, I am still getting used to it,” Harrison told Yahoo Sport UK with a laugh. “I just feel so lucky to be beside these players; Frank, Andrea [Pirlo], David [Villa], and being coached by the likes of Patrick Vieira.”

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, the complexity of Harrison’s journey makes it a fairly unique one. A youth product with Manchester United, he spent his early years in football alongside some familiar names. “Marcus [Rashford] was the year below me at United and he’s doing really,” he said. “But Cameron [Borthwick-Jackson] he was in my year along with a few others. The technical quality [in the training] was amazing. Ever since I was young, being there at the age of 6, it was just skills and all about the technique.”

Had things gone differently for Harrison he might now be trying to impress Jose Mourinho in order to earn a spot in the first team. However, he could just as equally be heading out on loan, or toiling in the lower leagues like so many of those that do not make the grade at United. Instead he is in MLS, a consequence of his decision to move across the globe to the prestigious Berkshire School, in Massachusetts. “It was a tough decision at the age of 13 but I had a lot of faith in my mum,” he said. “And it’s turned out pretty well.”

His mother’s intention was to give her son an education, and with it a backup plan in case his football career did not pan out. Their strong bond continues to stretch across the Atlantic, although it looks unlikely that Harrison will have to worry about a career outside of playing professional football.

The 19-year-old has been forced to be patient for his chance in the team, however. A series of small injuries halted Harrison’’s debut, and forced Patrick Vieira to wait for the precocious teenager. “The pelvic injury took about 3 months, and I think I came back a little bit too soon,” Harrison said. “I strained my quad again but I’m glad to be finally fit and playing again for the team.”

Eventually making his debut in May, against the New York Red Bulls, he arrived on the field with the team already down by 5 goals. As if not bad enough, they would concede a further 2 during his cameo. “That wasn’t exactly ideal,” he said of his debut.

However, after that blip, which was far from his fault, Harrison has enjoyed a string of fine showings. On Sunday, he even had a chance of retribution against the Red Bulls, with Patrick Vieira naming him in the starting line-up. Eager to make a big impression, Harrison did just that with a goal inside 10 minutes.“We’d been working on some set pieces in practice,” he said of the move that preceded his goal. “It came out to me, I had a bad touch, but I was able to pull it across my body and hit it. Luckily for me it went in.”

Proving influential again in the second half, it was his pinpoint cross that was turned in by David Villa for NYCFC’s second. “I’ve spent a lot of years in this game, and he has something important that only a few players have,” Villa said after the game. “When he has the ball at his feet, you get the sensation something is going to happen. Few players give you that feeling and he has it.”

Harrison’s performance earned him the league’s Player of The Week for Week 17, and with it praise from one of his closest teammates, Frank Lampard. “Jack’s been great since he came into the team,” Lampard told Yahoo Sport UK after Sunday’s win. “He’s given us an edge on that right wing. He’s got a natural ability on the ball. Some players just know when to pass, when to dribble. On top of that he’s got a lot of humility and he’s a really good kid. He wants to learn, he wants to work hard in the week and he’s not ahead of himself and I don’t think he ever will be because he’s so good.”

The duo endured a period out injured together earlier in the season, and their time spent in the gym, on exercise bikes and in swimming pools, has clearly left an impression on the youngster. “Obviously being injured is not a great experience,” Harrison said. “It takes a toll on you physically, and also mentally. He’s just been great with welcoming me into the club, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. He’s really helped me so much.”

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