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It seems like it was Harvey Barnes’ destiny to play for Leicester City.

The attacking midfielder was raised in Countesthorpe by his family, including his father, professional footballer Paul Barnes, taken down to watch City from the age of eight and has spent over half of his young life at City.

The 21-year-old has spent so much time at Belvoir Drive he now regards it as his second home.

“I have been here so long it definitely does feel like a second home,” Barnes said before heading out onto the training pitches where he has learnt his trade since the age of ten.

“I see the same faces every day and you see your old coaches who had you when you were dead young, and they speak to you about how things are going. It is great.

“It is something the club has been really good at, keeping the foundations of how it has always been.

“They tell me they are proud. My parents also tell me all the time.

“To be having that opportunity to play in the Premier League at such a young age is a big thing.

“At Leicester there are a lot of young lads but across the Premier League there aren’t a lot of lads aged 21 and 22 playing regularly.

“For the club it is great going forward, and for me.”

Barnes has football entrenched in his DNA.

He was born in Burnley while his Leicester-born father Paul played for the Clarets during a career as a striker that also took him to Birmingham City, Bury, Chesterfield, Doncaster Rovers, Huddersfield Town, Notts County, Stoke City and York City, but the family returned to Leicestershire as Paul’s career began to wind down and Barnes was spotted playing junior football for Whetstone Juniors/Oadby Town.

Barnes was football mad and would spend hours in his garden with his dad, and he admits he couldn’t have had a better role model as he chased his dream of being a professional.

“He isn’t a diehard fan but he has always followed Leicester,” Barnes said of his dad.

“I think I was first taken down to City just before I joined the academy. I would have been eight or nine.

“I have been following City since we moved to Leicester and all my friends are Leicester fans.

“It was a little bit strange when my friends would ask all the time about my Dad, but for me I loved football so there was no better person to be asking advice from and watching old clips of him.

“I was immersed in football, probably it was half me and half my dad. He got me into my first team.

“I always loved football. I wanted to play from early as I could. He used to have a little goal in the garden and we would be out there most nights kicking a ball.

“I used to stick him in nets and take shots at him. I briefly remember going to watch him. It would have been towards the end of his career. I went to a few games.”

Having a father who knows what it takes to become a professional can also bring pressure and while Barnes admits his Dad gives an honest appraisal of his performances, he has never felt any extra pressure from his lineage.

“There has never been any pressure from him where it is football or nothing,” recalls Barnes.

“He has always been very chilled out. He said: ‘If football is what you want to do then you will always have our support.’ It wasn’t pressure, more excitement because he has been and done it and obviously I hope to have a career similar.

“To have that background he has got is great for me.

“He definitely gives me advice now, not always good stuff. He was honest with me.

“He was hard if I played bad, yes, but I think you need both. You need honesty. You can’t just have great comments or you won’t improve the areas of the game that need improvement.

“Some players will have that naturally from their parents and some won’t but I felt that was important for me.

“He is the same as he has always been, good or bad. He comes to all my games so I get a debrief after the game and he will tell me the good points and the bad.

“I don’t live at home any more. I live in the same village and still pop round all the time, have a cup of tea and get my washing done.”

As debuts go, Barnes’ was memorable. He made his first team bow under Claudio Ranieri in the Champions League at Porto and while it was a heavy defeat for City, who had already qualified for the knockout stages, it was a good first step for Barnes.

Now he has established himself in the City line-up under Claude Puel and now Brendan Rodgers and he has other targets in his immediate sight, most notably his first City goal.

He thought he had scored it at Wolverhampton Wanderers but it was officially given as an own goal by Conor Coady, although Barnes still believes his shot was already on target.

“Firstly I want to cement my place in the side until the end of the season, hopefully,” said Barnes, who comes across as totally focused on his game.

“Of course I am still waiting for the first goal but I am not thinking too much about it. It would be nice to finally get it.

Was Barnes' shot on target at Wolves? "I think it probably was," he added.

Then Barnes has something else to focus on, the European under-21 Championships in Italy where he could be joined in the England squad by City team-mates Hamza Choudhury, Demarai Gray and James Maddison.

“Definitely that is a target,” he said.

“It is in the back of our minds. I know myself that will only happen if my club performances are good enough and I continue to play every week.

“The main thing is to stay in the side and keep the performances high.

“That is something in mind and I hope it happens in the summer.”