Scout Report: Rekeem Harper
Overview -
Rekeem Harper is a central midfielder who currently plays for West Bromwich Albion & is heavily linked to a move down the pyramid to Ipswich Town for a fee of £500k with add ons potentially taking the deal to approximately £1–1.5 million. He made his West Brom debut at the age of 17, becoming one of the youngest ever players in Premier League history which shows his pedigree. After relegation to the Championship he then had a breakthrough campaign in the 18/19 season under Darren Moore making 16 appearances in total. This led to serious interest from numerous clubs in Italy & from Tottenham due to his contract expiring that same season.
He then took the option to stay with West Brom after assurances from West Brom manager at the time Slaven Bilic but ultimately disappointing performances in training & matches meant he only played 10 times.
Last season he didn’t feature for West Brom leading to a loan move to Championship side Birmingham City where he featured 18 times. In this loan move he showed signs of a decent player which lead to some praise from Birmingham City fans. The sacking of Aitor Karanka & a relegation battle meant this was a disruptive loan move which perhaps didn’t help his development as much as it could have.
The 3 matches that I watched Rekeem play in were during his spell at Birmingham.
Data Analysis -
I have compiled a data dashboard on Rekeem Harper based off of his time on loan at Birmingham compared to other Championship DM’s who played at least 1000 minutes in the 20/21 season.
On the face of it he looks a pretty poor player, ranking as one of the worst DM’s in the Championship for a number of stats however we have to remember he was playing for a very poor Birmingham side with a lot of disruption & that this is the Championship; a huge step up in quality & intensity compared to League One.
Harper doesn’t possess much of a goal threat with an average percentile rank of 20 in that section however the type of player he is it shouldn’t be expected of him. This is much of the same in the creativity section, he isn’t someone who gets into areas to create chances & generally keeps his passing simple. Harper’s dribbles per 90 are very high & his success rate is very high, showing his skillset.
His ball progression via passing is poor, with the worst forward pass:passes ratio in the Championship combine with a low amount of progressive passes & passes to the final 3rd. His progressive runs per 90 is at a decent rate showing his preference to carry the ball forwards when he isn’t pressured.
It is hard to evaluate players defensively & stats mostly show style rather than quality. Looking at his defensive duels, successful defensive actions & interceptions we can gather that his defensive style isn’t that active. His defensive & aerial duel win rate suggest he is good when he does engage defensively.
Physical Attributes -
One of Harper’s main strengths in his game is his physical attributes. This is the first thing I notice when I watch a player as they are an athlete after all & then after looking at his on/off the ball actions I can see whether he maximises his physical attributes. Harper is quick off the mark & also his top speed is good as well, especially for someone 6 foot 3. His big stride allows him to eat up ground quickly & his agility is also quite good for his size which certainly helps his speed & acceleration. The usage of his speed is something that can be worked on as late on in games his legs will tire very easily making his neat, technical game less effective. Cook’s fitness programme in pre season will improve his endurance & stamina in games.
In the air Harper is great, at 6 foot 3 he is already big enough to win balls in the air but his jumping is also impressive; able to beat players of a similar height in the air with ease. His ability to win the 1st contact in the air will protect our CB’s & the space behind them as they won’t need to step out to win the aerial ball anywhere near as much as they did last season with Andre Dozzell in front.
Harper has strong upper body strength that allows him to win his fair share of the duels both when defending & trying to retain the ball, his usage of his strength can be improved & he doesn’t have the right amount of aggression as he doesn’t yet impose himself on games or bully the opposition midfielders.
In Possession (on the ball) -
Rekeem Harper is a very sound player technically, his passing overall is decent. He tends to play shorter, simple passes rather than anything extravagant however due to his ability he can play switches of play & mid range chipped passes. His preference for more simple passes is shown in his high rank for 1st line passes compared to 2nd & 3rd line passes.
Examples of 1st, 2nd & 3rd passes are shown below:
Harper generally looks to retain the ball with high percentage passes that are played infront of defensive lines (1st line passes). He does occasionally play 2nd line passes, passes which are played around & exclude the defensive line, which includes switches of play. The amount of 3rd line passes, passes which go through defensive lines, he plays are few & far between so is an area he can massively improve on. Considering his ability to accurately pass to not attempt these passes is a worry. This is reflected in his score for ball progression as well. Harper’s ball retention when passing is really good, often having a good weight & accuracy on a number of his passes so doesn’t give the ball away much at all. Like all players at this level one of accuracy/weight of pass is sometimes off which means his teammate when they receive the ball cannot setup their next action as well. Harper’s vision of play is okay but can be improved on, sometimes he misses easy opportunities to progress the ball.
One huge strength of Harper’s game is his control & dribbling. His first touch is often secure & really neat however sometimes it can be too tight which means he takes too longer to perform his next action. Learning when to have a heavier first touch to perform his next action is definitely something to refine. He has decent ability on the ball when under pressure, when receiving back to goal his first touch is still secure & his physique means he can keep the ball well. He gets ranked down in this category as he rarely uses his left foot so is often forced backwards when under pressure. His tight control means he is extremely good in tight spaces & able to get out of tricky situations so when he goes 1v1 with a player he often gets past them. This combined with his ability to keep the ball when passing means he is extremely press resistant so can break the opposition press, a needed skill in the modern game. As well as in tighter spaces, Harper is also good at dribbling over larger spaces. His large stature means he has a big stride so can cover distance quickly combined with his good control of the ball makes him a good dribbler over large distances.
His overall score of 55/90 (61%) is impressive & is the standout in his game.
Off the ball (when team in possession) -
Harper’s off the ball movements can be okay but is definitely an area that needs improvement. Harper prefers to receive the ball when supporting behind a player or when stood to the side & doesn’t tend to show for the ball when ahead of the ball & instead stays behind an opponents cover shadow. This isn’t as much of a problem as Cook’s DM’s generally drop in to make a back 3 so therefore he won’t receive ahead of the play much anyways. His eagerness to receive the ball is better but this mostly happens when he drops into a back 3 to get the ball off of the defenders, when he is ahead of the play he isn’t too eager to receive.
His body positioning when receiving the ball is decent, he opens up his body well for his first touch of the ball & is rarely caught out in situations like this. He does tend to not use his left foot much when controlling the ball meaning he is forced backwards when receiving in those situations however he is likely to play on the right of a double pivot so this won’t be much of an issue.
Another thing to improve on in regards to body positioning is his ability to take the ball on the half turn, he rarely does this & instead holds the ball & recycles. This will negatively impact our ball progression. When he then wants to play the pass he can be quite static once the pass is made meaning combination play between him & other players is more difficult.
Defending -
Overall Harper’s pressing is a bit of a mix, hence the average score for pressing. He isn’t the most active defensively so won’t press that much, sometimes he is really aware & using his strong pace he is onto an opponent quickly to win the ball or forces them into a mistake but can also switch off easily meaning he is too late to press. He can also be too quick/eager to press therefore leaving space behind him to be exploited so getting the balance is key, especially in the high pressing system that he will be deployed in. As well as speed/eagerness the angles that Harper presses are also a mix. He can be caught too square sometimes & doesn’t check his shoulder for movements as much as he maybe should which means he then doesn’t have the ideal body orientation to cut off a pass & gets played around.
Harper’s awareness to cover for his teammates when they press or are out of position is good. His defensive style is more conservative & compare that with his new teammate at Ipswich, Lee Evans, who is more active in his approach means there is a decent balance between them so when Evans presses/pushes forwards Harper is more than aware of what position he should be in.
As previously stated Harper isn’t the most active defensively so his frequency of defensive duels is on the low side however his ability to win these duels is good, he uses his upper body strength & long, dangly legs well to win these. The length of his legs allow him to get the 1st contact on loose balls & then uses his strength to retain the ball & get the 2nd contact of the ball.
1v1 Harper operates at a moderate level, his long legs allow him to get some contact on the ball when he does engage but instead he generally stands players up rather than diving in which is a decent characteristic to have however he can get caught too square when standing his opponent up so can get passed easily & sometimes he forces the opponent the wrong way gives him too much time on his stronger foot. This generally happens when he is dragged out wide to go 1v1, something he will have to do a lot as he covers for when the FB’s get forwards.
Harper can defend larger spaces well as he stands up the opposition which will slow the counter attack down & his physical attributes mean he can cover the ground quickly & make an impact. Harper is sometimes too eager when man marking in the press, on a couple occasions in the games I watched he got caught out of position as he followed his marker to his own box which left overloads in midfield for the opposition to exploit.
Final 3rd -
One of Harper’s main strengths going forwards is his ball striking, he has a clean strike that has a good amount of power. He doesn’t get into goalscoring positions much which means he won’t be able to see his shooting from distance much however Harper does like a shot from range. Like in build up Harper doesn’t take too many risks when in the final 3rd so his ability to create chances & openings isn’t great however if the oppurtunity arose I imagine he would be able to pull it off due to his good technical ability. Off the ball Harper won’t get into attacking positions much but will support play wide when needed as he covers for his FB, his tight control will be extremely useful in those areas.
