'Elite player': West Brom graduate once linked with Juventus and Tottenham makes latest EFL move
At one point Rekeem Harper was grabbing headlines at West Brom and attracting the attention of big European clubs.
The Albion academy graduate emerged from the club's youth system, was handed a chance and grabbed it.
After being given his Premier League debut in 2017, he spent time on loan before returning and nailing down a place in the Albion side under then boss and former youth coach Darren Moore.
His displays in the Championship even saw him on the radar of the likes of Tottenham, Juventus and Celtic.
He looked to be the latest top talent to come off the Baggies production line, with his manager Moore insisting Harper was establishing himself as an 'elite player'.
He fell out of favour the following season under Slaven Bilic and featured from the bench during Albion's Premier League season during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the once highly rated star midfielder would then depart - as he headed to Ipswich Town for £500,000.
And since then then former England youth international has bounced around a string of EFL clubs via loans at the likes of Exeter City and Crewe.
He then reunited with Moore at Port Vale in November last year - but this week he is on the move again as he penned a two-year deal with League Two Barrow.
Once nicknamed 'little monster' by former Baggies skipper Jake Livermore, Harper was tipped for much bigger things by the time he reached 25.
But after being unveiled as The Bluebirds' latest signing, Harper insists he still has big ambitions in the game.
He said: "It’s amazing to finally get it done, I spoke to the Gaffer recently and our ambitions aligned, and I’m happy to finally be here at this football club.
“It’s a fearless club who wants to climb the ladder and the table, and I want to be at a club with a winning environment and at a team who have ambitions to do big things, so that stood out to me.”
