| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 28 February 1996 [1] | ||
| Place of birth | Málaga, Spain [1] | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) [1] | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Linense | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2009 | Fuengirola Los Boliches | ||
| 2009–2015 | Real Madrid | ||
| 2015–2017 | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | Málaga B | 50 | (24) |
| 2018–2019 | Málaga | 26 | (4) |
| 2019–2023 | Getafe | 0 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | → Alcorcón (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → Cartagena (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Villarreal B (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 2021–2022 | → Racing Santander (loan) | 17 | (2) |
| 2022–2023 | → Hércules (loan) | 17 | (2) |
| 2023–2024 | Marbella | 23 | (5) |
| 2024– | Linense | 6 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 2010–2012 | Scotland U15 | ||
| 2012 | Scotland U17 | 6 | (1) |
| 2014 | Scotland U19 | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 6 October 2024 | |||
Jack Harper (born 28 February 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Linense. [2] Born and raised in Spain, he represented his parents' birthplace Scotland at youth international levels.
Harper was born in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, [1] to Scottish parents. [3] [4] He speaks both English (with a Scottish accent) and Spanish. [5] He grew up in Fuengirola. [5]
His brothers Ryan and Mac were also footballers. [1] Ryan was born in Barrhead in Scotland before the family moved to Spain in the mid-1990s. [6]
Harper played for Fuengirola Los Boliches between 2003 and 2009. [1] After trialling with Sevilla and Almería, Harper signed an initial 12-month contract with Real Madrid in 2009, [4] at the age of 13. [5] He moved to Madrid to live at the club's training ground, and attended private school. [5]
In December 2012, Harper signed a new five-year contract with Real Madrid. [7] In June 2014 he signed a further contract extension with the club. [8] At the age of 18, with two years left on his contract, he chose to leave Real Madrid after the club said they wanted to loan him out. [5]
He signed for English club Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2015. [9] He was injured for the first six months of his time with Brighton. [5]
Harper returned to Spain with Málaga in January 2017. [10] He spent the end of the 2016–17 season and all of 2017–18 with the Málaga B team, [11] [12] helping them to achieve promotion to the third tier via the playoffs in the latter campaign [13] having lost out due to a last-minute goal in the final round the previous year. [14]
He made his first-team debut on 18 August 2018, starting in a 2–1 away win against CD Lugo in the Segunda División. [15] He scored his first professional goal on 3 September, netting the winner in a 1–0 away success over UD Almería. [16]
Harper signed a pre-contract agreement with Getafe in February 2019 and completed the move in July. [17] On 10 August, he was loaned to second division side Alcorcón for one year. [18]
On 5 October 2020, transfer deadline day, Harper joined FC Cartagena, newly-promoted to division two, on loan for one year. [19] On 1 February 2021, he moved to Villarreal CF B in the third division, also on loan. [20] On 6 July 2021, he was loaned out to the third-tier again, this time joining Racing de Santander. [21]
On 21 July 2022, Harper moved to Hércules CF also on a one-year loan deal. [22] In July of the following year, he left Getafe. [23]
On 26 July 2023, Harper signed a one-year contract with Marbella FC in the Segunda Federación. [24]
On 17 July 2024, Harper joined Linense in the fourth-tier Segunda Federación. [25]
Harper has elected to represent Scotland at international level, saying that "even though I live in Spain, I feel Scottish, so I want to make my family proud and play for my country." [4] He has stated his ambition to play for Scotland at the FIFA World Cup. [5] [26] [27]
He was called up by the under-15 squad in April 2010, [4] and by the under-16s in July 2011. [28] He made his under-17 national debut in August 2012. [29] He made a total of six appearances for the under-17s in 2012, scoring once. [30] He made his debut for the under-19s in August 2014, making three appearances for them that year. [31] He was dropped from the under-19s in March 2015. [32]
He was selected for the Scotland under-21 squad in March 2017, [12] [33] but did not play.
Harper has been compared to Robin van Persie. [34]
Atlético Malagueño