Brighton's Harry Howell, 17, signs first professional contract

New York Times

2 days ago

Harry Howell has signed his first professional contract with Brighton & Hove Albion.
The England junior international attacker has penned a three-year deal after making his Premier League debut in May against Liverpool.
Howell became Brighton's youngest Premier League player at 17 years and 29 days old when he came on in the 84th minute in a double substitution with cousin and matchwinner Jack Hinshelwood in the 3-2 victory over the league champions at the Amex Stadium.
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'He adapted in an impressive way to the first team environment,' head coach Fabian Hurzeler told reporters afterwards. 'He showed impressive performances in training sessions and I am not afraid of putting young players in.
'It's not a question of age for me, it's a question of quality, and if you deserve to play, if you show a really good attitude in training, show what you are capable of, then you deserve to play. He had a great start to his Premier League career. He came into the game and just played like he was here for ten years.'
Howell was named in the matchday squad by Hurzeler five times in total from April onwards. His first team involvement with his club restricted him to one goal scoring appearance for England Under-17s in the European Championships in Albania in May in a 4-2 win against the Czech Republic in their closing group fixture, as they missed out narrowly on qualifying for the knockout stages.
Howell and Hinshelwood both started out with Brighton at the age of seven. Utility player Hinshelwood has rejected extra time off granted by Hurzeler to his international players after helping England Under-21's win the Euros in Slovakia at the end of June.
The squad begin pre-season training on Sunday. Hurzeler is confident that Turkish international full-back Ferdi Kadioglu, ruled out from November last season after toe surgery, will be ready to join in a couple of weeks into the pre-season programme which includes a ten-day training camp in Spain in mid-July.
The only first team friendlies open to the public are away to Championship side Southampton on August 2 and against Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg at the Amex on August 9. Hurzeler's second season in charge begins at home to Fulham on August 16.
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