It takes plenty of courage to turn your back on Manchester United at the age of 13, up sticks and fly 5,000 miles to try to forge a career in football.But that's exactly the route chosen by New York City midfielder Jack Harrison. and right now it's looking like the perfect decision.After seven years in the United States, Harrison has been called up by England Under 21s for their upcoming Euro 2019 qualifiers against Scotland and Andorra.It is hardly the end of the ride - at 20, he is only just setting out - but it certainly does vindicate an admirably bold move to relocate Stateside rather than stay in the comfortable and familiar surroundings of United's academy.Fortune favours the brave, they say. Harrison is finding out first-hand just what that means.He was barely a teenager when he opted to quit United - and its famously successful youth setup - to move to the private Berkshire School in Massachusetts.Harrison was a year above Marcus Rashford at Carrington, and played with the striker on a handful of occasions.He had seen several other players progress into the first team but many more fail to make the grade and drop out of the game altogether.His mother, Debbie, had concerns over his future should football not bring him an income - and a move to the American east coast came up in conversation.'It was a tough decision at the age of 13 but I had a lot of faith in my mum and what she presented to me,' he told the Telegraph in a 2016 interview.The shift in lifestyle from Bolton to the Berkshire must have been stark but Harrison settled, winning a Gatorade National Boys Player of the Year award and earning a place at Wake Forest University.His stock continued to rise. In January 2016, the Englishman no one in England had heard of became the No 1 draft pick by Chicago Fire before New York City traded money and their No 4 selection to sign him.Now the kid from Stoke-on-Trent was training with Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa.His MLS debut came in May 2016 in a local derby against New York Red Bulls. He scored his first professional goal on his first start against Real Salt Lake in June 2016, was nominated for the Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year award and has now made a total of 57 appearances for his club, netting 14 times.'A couple of years ago, I would always think about what would have happened if I had stayed at United, but now I have no regrets, I am happy to be here in the situation I am, playing with the players I am,' Harrison said in an interview earlier this year.'I am learning so much and it can only get better, really. 'The 20-year-old's admiration for his illustrious peers has been reciprocated by Lampard, who has predicated 'big things to come' from Harrison.'He's got a natural ability on the ball. Some players just know when to pass, when to dribble and they have a natural ability to skip past people,' Lampard said last July.'On top of that, he's got a lot of humility and he's a really good kid. He wants to learn,
