When Jack Harrison was a youngster, growing up in Bolton and playing for Manchester United’s youth academy, he perhaps did not imagine that football would take him to the most famous baseball stadium in the world. But football has a funny way of doing things. Which is why, on a recent summer’s afternoon in New York City, Harrison, 19, sat in one of the dugouts at Yankee Stadium, discussing the unconventional path – at least in of English football terms – that has taken him to the professional ranks here with New York City FC.

“It’s crazy,” he told the Guardian, a northern lilt still in tact and a slight grin on his face as he looked out over the field where his team had just beaten LA Galaxy 1-0. “I don’t think I understand the significance yet, as many Americans do, of being in Yankee Stadium. But it’s a great place to play. Look around – the stadium is fantastic.”

For many of the European players who had just left the pitch – Lampard, David Villa, Pirlo, Gerrard, Keane, Cole – questions about their transfers usually revolve around how they came to America to grow the sport. But for Harrison, who has generated the odd next-big-thing rumbling during this, his rookie season in MLS, the decision to leave England five years ago was more about personal development – in a footballing sense and as a way of improving his education.

When Harrison was 13 and about six years into his Manchester United tenure, his mother, Debbie, decided to explore ways of continuing her son’s education, having foreseen the risks of pinning their hopes on football being Jack’s only career path.

“I wanted to find that balance for him,” she said. “I think it’s a bit of a parent trap when these young children go into academies, and then, to actually put all your focus and all your effort into football, football, football … I don’t think it’s a good thing.”

Debbie, a single mother with Jack her only child, recognized that sporting talent in America could lead to an elite education at a school with excellent academic and athletic resources. Though her son was not receptive to the idea at first, she continued to explore options in the US, walking Jack through United’s academy and pointing to pictures of the youth teams of old as a way of making her point that very few academy prospects make it into top-level teams.

“I said: ‘Do you recognize him?’... ‘Do you recognize him?’... ‘Do you recognize him?’,” Debbie explained. “And he said, ‘No.’ And I said, ‘What we can do is: you get the best of both worlds here [in the US], and if you do ever manage to play professionally, it’s a bonus, isn’t it?’”

Harrison agreed to study through textbooks that Debbie described as “the size of the Yellow Pages,” and after attending a three-plus-hour exam in London, her son was accepted into Berkshire school, a private, co-ed boarding school in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

With Debbie feeling like she’d “won the lottery” and Jack still apprehensive – he had friends in England and was playing for Manchester United, after all – the pair made a compromise: Jack should go and visit the school, and if he did not like what he saw, they would figure out another path for him.

“The soccer was a lot better than I expected,” said Harrison, who called his mum to express how much he liked the school, where the average class size is 12 and whose football coach accommodated him for a number of days. “At the same time, I would be surrounded by great people; the community was great; the facilities were out of this world.”

While Debbie admitted that it was tough letting her only child leave home at such a young age, she felt assured that the move was the right decision for Jack.

Harrison left for the US in 2011, aged 14, and said that he immediately found the education system in America “a real hit in the face.” In England, he joked, some of his teachers would forgive him for not completing his homework if he had attended United training late the night before. But here there were no excuses for a schedule that incorporated his soccer practices and additional study time in the evenings.

“One of his greatest attributes was that he was willing to ask questions, to advocate for himself, to be involved,” Dan Driscoll, the director of athletics at Berkshire, said. “He took advantage of every opportunity. I think the thing that separates the ones that have truly reached the highest levels are the intangibles — the drive, the grit, the leadership abilities — and Jack also showed those from the minute he walked onto the field as a little pipsqueak, as a freshman.”

At Berkshire, Harrison’s footballing talents soon became apparent, despite coaches initially being concerned about the midfielder’s small frame. He tallied 24 goals and 33 assists during his time at the school, and was named the national boys’ soccer player of the year in 2015.

It was during his time a Berkshire that Harrison also found a love for New York City. While on breaks from the school, a two-and-a-half hour drive from New York, he spent periods visiting friends there and trained with local teams – sometimes alongside players four of five years his senior.

Ray Selvadurai, the director of coaching at Manhattan Soccer Club, where Harrison played during high school, recalled a time when the player, then 15, was called as a ringer to play in an U-20 match and scored four goals. At another tournament, he added, Harrison put in man-of-the-match performances against sides from Tottenham, Brentford and Stevenage.

David Villa is among the stars who have been impressed by Jack Harrison’s ability. Photograph: Nathan R Congleton/NYCFC.com

“The best part about him is his humbleness,” Selvadurai said. “I call him a yes guy. ‘Jack, can you get the cones?’ … ‘Jack, can you get the balls?’ ‘You’ve got it!’”

With the focus still on a balancing education and footballing prospects, Harrison accepted a place in Wake Forest University in North Carolina, in 2015. It was there that talk of the midfielder making the move to Major League Soccer really started to pick up speed.

“Professional scouts had been watching him for the year,” Bobby Muuss, the men’s soccer coach at the college, said. “I was hoping he wouldn’t go, selfishly. I’m a big believer in the university system – maybe not just for player development, but for human being development. And I think Jack is a tremendous young man, mature beyond his years because of his experiences.”

After picking up a string of accolades during his freshman year, Harrison decided it was time to turn pro. In January 2016, he was selected by Chicago Fire as the No1 pick in the MLS draft, but was soon traded to New York City FC, which had been tracking the midfielder for some time. (Harrison still has the option to complete his studies through online courses.)

“I would have been happy going anywhere,” Harrison said. “But I’m glad that New York reached out and went out of their way to get me. It’s nice to be back here. Also, with my friends being around as well, it’s great to have that support system around you.”

That support system, Harrison added, has been vital since he moved the United States. In New York, he said, the likes of Frank Lampard – who helped him through rehab for an injury during his early days with the club and spent time with Harrison away from soccer – have been pivotal. Patrick Vieira, the NYC FC manager, is doing his best to protect Harrison from excessive media hype also.

Such attention has come about from the performances Harrison has been putting in on the field. Deployed mainly as a right winger and confident cutting inside onto his left foot, the midfielder has played 13 times for NYC FC: he has scored three goals, creating three, been named in the MLS team of the week twice, and won player of the week once. These displays have seen publications mention both Harrison’s England prospects, and the chances of him potentially representing the United States one day. His team-mates see his potential too: “When he has the ball at his feet, you get the sensation something is going to happen,” said David Villa last month. “Few players give you that feeling and he has it. He has it at 19 years old, with not much time as a professional.”

Harrison is not getting ahead of himself when it comes to his international prospects. “I try not to think about it too much,” he said. “Obviously, it would be great to represent my country, England, but if the interest is not there, I’d be happy to represent America, and I’d be open to that. I’ve said that before: I like to focus on the moment and do what I can while I’m here.”

As the sun set on the Yankee Stadium field, Debbie Harrison waited for her son inside the vast hallway through the giant doors of the stadium’s Gate 2. On a visit to city, she was hoping to see the Statue of Liberty any day now. And for the Galaxy match, Harrison had given her tickets in the family section – an area from which she moved midway through the game, opting instead for the louder supporters’ section behind the goal. There, Debbie stood, was photographed with fans, chatted to others, and wore badges linked to the team’s supporters group, the Third Rail.

“She’s on the drums and everything,” Harrison laughed. “She loves being a part of it. You don’t really get many parents like that, but she’s in touch with them all on Facebook and stuff. I’m really happy to present her with that opportunity after everything that she’s done for me – I’ve been so grateful.”