Laila Harbert: Arsenal’s Rising Star

Photo credit: Arsenal FC

Arsenal’s Academy has brought up some notable players in the past, like England Captain Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Chloe Kelly, and Chelsea superstar Lauren James. Laila Harbert could be the next big name from the Gooners Academy. On her 18th Birthday, she signed her first professional contract with Arsenal. 

Laila’s career began at age six, when she was accompanying her twin brother and father to training. „It was an easy way into football and I never looked back,“ she said in an Interview with Arsenal. While training with Club legend Gemma Davison, the technical director of Arsenal noticed her and asked her to join the team. The defensive midfielder joined the club in 2016 at the age of 9. 

She was one of two girls to train at Hale End for three seasons, where she worked with the boys twice a week before joining the girls in the evening sessions. “It’s an experience that has hugely shaped me as a player, particularly when it comes to competitiveness,” the 18-year-old reflects on this time. Harbert won several trophies with Arsenal's under-16s and under-21s teams. She started training with the first team when she was 15.

“I’d dreamed of that moment, I’d grown up watching these players and now I was competing with them in training!” 

In addition to her development with Arsenal’s academy and first-team squads, Laila gained valuable experience during the 2023/24 season by making 14 appearances as part of a dual-registration agreement with Barclays Women’s Championship club Watford.

Photo credit: FIFA

Internationally, Laila has had an extraordinary year as captain of the Under-17 Lionesses.

She led the team to their first-ever final at the UEFA European Championships in Sweden, where they missed out on the title against Spain—a moment she describes as her “proudest as a footballer so far.” Just a few months later, in October, she captained the squad again, leading them to a fourth-place finish at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic.

Laila made her debut appearance for Arsenal's first team in May 2024, replacing Kyra Cooney-Cross against the A-League All-Stars Women in Melbourne. “Making my Arsenal debut during the Australian tour was a lovely way to end the season. The support out there was incredible – I didn’t know what to expect but it definitely wasn’t that!” Laila was also part of Arsenal’s pre-season tour in Washington D.C, where she came on in the 78th minute in the 2-1 win against Washington Spirit. 

On January 7th, 2025, she signed her first professional contract with the North London club.

Head of Player Development James Honeyman said:

“Laila has made her way up through our academy to become part of the first-team squad, and we couldn’t be prouder of her and the way she has developed.”

Arsenal's Academy was able to develop a few promising players for the next few years. Harbert also speaks positively about the academy: “It has been amazing to go on this journey alongside the other girls. Katie [Reid], Viv [Lia] and Freya [Godfrey] have been here since they were about 13 and Michelle [Agyemang] has been at Arsenal forever! The pathway from academy to senior squad is probably clearer than ever right now with the sheer number of us making that switch.” 

The young star still stays realistic about her role in the team, in September 2024, before receiving her professional contract, she said in an Interview with Arsenal: "Ultimately, my aim is to become a regular starter for Arsenal but that doesn’t happen overnight at 17! This season, I’m going to push myself physically and technically in first-team training. Hopefully, I’ll go out on loan when I turn 18 to get some more senior exposure and match minutes, and when I come back I’ll be ready to compete."