On the opening day of the Premier League season, with just over an hour gone in Hull City’s clash with Manchester United, Lucas Herrington got up off the bench. With the Tigers 2-0 up, manager Sergej Jakirović turned to the 18-year-old Australian to replace injured goalscorer Nobel Mendy with a clear role in mind. It wasn’t going to be easy because they were going to throw everything at it.
With their subs, they did. They were more attacking.” Herrington had been in the UK for just over a week at that point, having jetted in after joining from MLS side Colorado Rapids on a five-year deal. Reports as to the exact fee have varied, as have breakdowns between the base figure and various add-ons.
But the consensus is that Herrington has now become one of the most expensive Socceroos of all time, the most expensive Australian teenager of all time and the subject of the most lucrative deal ever made for an MLS defender. To say the Queenslander’s rise has been meteoric is to sell his remarkable journey short. He’ll mark his 19th birthday with a visit from Aston Villa this weekend, almost a year to the day on from a preseason game he played against NPL QLD side Olympic FC.
The announcement that he was off to the Rapids in 2026 had already been made by then, but few would have anticipated it would be followed by regular starts in the American top-flight, an international debut, a World Cup debut and then a Premier League move. Herrington has come off the bench in both of Hull’s opening games, with his new club, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal the only sides with 100% records intact. It was hardly expected of the newly promoted outfit coming into the season.
Nor of Herrington, the teenager with fewer than 50 professional games under his belt. But already he is making things look far less daunting than they actually are. But it’s definitely been very enjoyable,” he says.
You’ve got to always know your surroundings; you’ve got to be scanning, communicating. It’s great for me; in my position, you have to be communicating. It’s been great.” Off the pitch, he finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being recognised and stopped for photos in the streets of Hull.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
