The “Rolls Royce” many in Australian football did not even know we had has just put the nation back on the world map.
Following in the footsteps of several of the nation’s greatest ever players, 18-year-old Lucas Herrington has just inked an Australian transfer record move to the English Premier League.
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Freshly promoted Hull City is believed to have coughed up £17 million – that’s AUD $32.5 million – to the Colorado Rapids for the teenager with £12.6 million to be paid upfront and the remainder in add-ons.
The official fee remains undisclosed, but it comfortably surpasses the $25 million Leicester City paid for Harry Souttar following the 2022 World Cup.
And the five-year deal comes less than 18 months after Herrington was not even starting for the Young Socceroos.
The Queenslander was not called upon until extra time as Australia defeated Saudi Arabia on penalties in the final of the U20 Asian Cup in China last March.
This month, he could be awarded a Premier League debut against Manchester United as Hull welcome the Red Devils to the MKM Stadium on the opening night of the season.
Whenever that debut comes, it will mark the latest stunning milestone in what has been a meteoric rise that only a few saw coming.
Former Brisbane Roar coach Ruben Zadkovich will be laughing now after hailing the teenager as “the best defender in Australian football” in September 2024 – before he had even played a professional game.
The Roar’s hierarchy clearly saw Herrington’s talent but not have as high hopes as others.
They sold Herrington to Colorado earlier this year for an undisclosed club record fee believed to be around $800,000.
The deal was done last August with the move made in the January transfer window after 29 appearances in all competitions for the Roar.
Brisbane had initially negotiated 20% sell-on clause into Herrington’s sale, but Colorado bought it for $560,000 in July.
If the Roar had have kept the 20% sell-on clause, they would have pocketed $6.5 million from his move to Hull.
They will certainly be kicking themselves as Herrington tries to curtail the likes of Manchester City goal scoring machine Erling Haaland this season.
Hull certainly believe he will be facing the world’s best for a long time.
Club owner Acun Ilicali described Herrington as a “future star” and told the BBC: “He’s got very big potential, a very young boy.”
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While Colorado learned from the Roar’s mistake by whacking on a 15 per cent sell-on clause to any future move.
If Ilicali’s prediction and the words of prominent Australian football commentator Daniel Garb come true, the Rapids will earn a lot of cash from Herrington.
“He is a phenom,” Garb said on the football360 podcast.
“Virgil van Dijk came through at Southampton, that’s where he made his name,” he added.
“Lucas Herrington is Australia’s Virgil van Dijk.
“Who says he can’t make the same progress from a club like that to the very, very top?”
Some eyebrows were raised when the news broke that Hull would be Herrington’s new home.
The teenager has been on the radar of some of the biggest clubs in the world.
Barcelona had an offer, believed to have been an around €10 million ($16.4m), rejected by Colorado before a ball had even been kicked at the World Cup.
Reports also emerged that Liverpool had sent scouts to watch him play in the MLS.
When he produced an assured display in the final group game against Paraguay to help seal the Socceroos’ passage out to the knockout rounds in his World Cup debut, the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich all stood up and took notice.
Soon after Australia were eliminated by Egypt in the Round of 32, TEAMtalk.com’s Graeme Bailey dubbed Herrington “one of the hottest properties of the summer transfer window”.
While the man himself acknowledged with a smile in an interview last month that “it is special when you hear your name surrounded by those clubs.
“But as you said, it is just full focus on the field, wherever I am. Whether it’s the national team or with Colorado at the moment, it’s just putting my best foot forward every week for them and just doing so until I’m told something else,” he added.
The move to Hull, who Herrington’s national teammate Jackson Irvine once played for, is a reminder that he is only 18 years old.
“We know about the other clubs that were linked with him, especially Barcelona,” former Socceroos and Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich told Code Sports.
“It’s understandable that they’d want to take a look at him in the Premier League, which is the toughest league in the world at the moment.
“They want to see how he goes.
“More importantly, they want to see how he goes in a team that’s just been promoted, where he will be very busy at the back.”
“If he went to one of the bigger clubs, there is a possibility they could bench him, or loan him out,” Bosnich added. “But when you go for that type of money to somewhere like Hull, he will be a starter.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity and he’s taking that next step.
“The big boys will be watching him very closely. The big clubs know too that if Hull end up going back down, they’ll be looking to get rid of players.
“He’ll be a major asset for them to sell.”
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Hull and Herrington are something of a natural fit given the freshly promoted side also came from the clouds earlier this year.
The Yorkshire club finished sixth on the Championship table and only edged out Hollywood club Wrexham on the final day of the season for the last playoff spot.
The Tigers then upset third placed Millwall before Oli McBurnie’s 95th minute winner against Middlesborough, who took Southampton’s place in the playoff final after the spygate sage, at Wembley a secured a return to the top flight for the first time since the 2016/17 season.
Now, the plan to make Herrington a key cog in their mission to remain a Premier League club.
“Linked to Barcelona, that was genuine I can tell you, Barcelona’s interest was not just paper talk,” Garb said on the football360 podcast.
“There was serious talk that went on there, but he’s going to place where he’s likely to play and he’s going to the biggest league in the world.
“People might look at it and think Hull City is unfashionable. He’s slight in his frame. Can he handle the physicality of the Premier League?
“From where he was in the MLS, and his star was rising there, you just cannot say no when a Premier League club comes in, and his club wanted to take it – it’s big money.
“If you’re Lucas Herrington, you say get me to the Prem and I’ll show it.”
That is exactly what he has done at every level so far.
In the MLS, Herrington truly announced himself with an eye-catching display against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in front of more than 75,00 fans.
Herrington provided an assist with a long ball over the top but learned a valuable lesson as Messi shot past him to score the matchwinner.
That has been part of the charm of Herrington’s emergence, that his young career has not been all smooth sailing.
He became a household name in Australia by missing his penalty in the shootout loss to Egypt.
But the 18-year-old’s courage to answer manager Tony Popovic’s call to step up to the spot endeared himself to football fans around the globe.
Legendary striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made headlines with his praise for Herrington on Fox Sports’ broadcast in the US after many questioned why a teenager was handed the task of taking a penalty.
For context, he did not even take one in the U20 Asian Cup final last year.
“Penalty is like lottery. You score, you become a hero; you don’t score, sadly you become zero,” Ibrahimovic said.
“I just want to reach out to Herrington. You’re 18 years old, you’re young, this is just the beginning of your career. You stepping up there, you showed a lot of courage, not everybody will do that.
“My friend, you’re the best. Don’t listen to the rest.”
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Herrington did not shy away from the disappointment.
He had spoken previously of trying “to be a good role model” for his fellow football mad teens back home during the World Cup.
So, he did not avoid walking through the mixed zone and chatting to journalists in at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
“Obviously, it’s tough; it’s part of the game. I made them [penalties] during the week, I was confident … And unfortunately, I missed, but it’s part of the game,” Herrington told SBS.
“It’s hard because it’s the biggest tournament of the year. It’s the biggest, probably, moment in my life, and I miss. I just got to rely on my support network and just get back to working.
“I’m 18, I’ve got a lot of career left, and I think it’s just the first big speed bump in my career.”
The penalty miss also did not put a dampener on his entire World Cup experience.
“It was special. It’s a dream come true to play at the World Cup and represent my country at the World Cup,” Herrington said in another interview.
“I loved every minute. Being thrown into those games, I love playing those games, so to be given the trust by the coaching staff and the players is special.”
Popovic left Herrington on the sidelines for the win against Turkiye and the loss to the USA but threw him into the starting line-up in place of Cameron Burgess for Australia’s final two matches.
Many thought Herrington would start the tournament alongside Harry Souttar and Alessandro Circati in the Socceroos’ centre back trio.
Particularly given the fact that he played every friendly in the lead-up to the World Cup after making his debut in 1-0 win against Cameroon in Sydney in March.
On the Paramount+ broadcast, former Socceroos midfielder Erik Paartalu described him as a “Rolls Royce” and said he was “probably the best player on the pitch” that night.
While Popovic revealed he had not originally intended to start the teenager in his maiden international call-up.
“He just looked like he’d been around for a couple of camps,” Popovic said post-game.
“Some boys you can see that they’re, not so much that it’s physical, it’s (more) like they’re overthinking every moment. ‘Oh, I made a mistake, I’m with the national team, it’s not good’.
“This kid just gets on with it, and he just looked really comfortable in the environment.
“I thought maybe give him some minutes in the second game, but after the training on Wednesday I was convinced that he could start.”
Such high praise should have Australian football fans confident that Herrington can make a major splash in the Premier League.
The nation has been yearning for more of our top talent to make their way to the biggest league in the world.
Last season there were no Australians in the Premier League with goalkeeper Joe Gauci, who was not selected for the World Cup squad, on the books at Aston Villa but sent out on loan to the English third tier.
Massimo Luongo and Burgess featured for Ipswich Town in their previous stint in the top flight in 2024/25.
But Australia has not had a Premier League regular since Aaron Mooy was patrolling the midfield for Huddersfield and Mat Ryan was stood in goal for Brighton last decade.
Herrington, hopefully, will give Australians one of our own to cheer for in the early hours of a Sunday or a Monday morning or before work in a midweek game for years to come.
It has certainly been overdue to boast such a top talent and listening to him speak makes Australians want to get behind him even more.
“Obviously I believe in myself. Every chance I get to step onto the field is a pleasure, an honour,” Herrington told MLSsoccer.com before last month’s MLS All-Star game.
“I just go out there and try to do my best every time, for whoever I’m playing for, whether it’s the national team or the Rapids. I’m trying to do that every game; I believe in my own abilities to get out of situations.
“I just love playing football. I’d rather be on the pitch than off it. I’m just so happy whenever I can play against the best players in the world.”