Josh Harrop has signed a contract with League Two side Northampton Town after training with them for the past few weeks. It is his first club since leaving Preston North End in the summer after a five-year spell.
The 26-year-old will be keen to try and get his career back on track after an injury hit few years and no luck going his way. Northampton Town are currently in third place in League Two, and are looking for an immediate return to League One after their relegation last term.
The length of his new deal has just been stated as ‘short-term’ but one would presume he has until the end of the season to stake his claim for a longer deal or even a contract elsewhere. There is no doubt that Josh Harrop should be playing in a higher level than League Two, but such is the situation he finds himself in, he needs games of football at any level.
Harrop joined Preston in 2017 after bursting onto the scene at Manchester United on his debut scoring a goal at Old Trafford. It was a coup of North End with Rennes and Bordeaux thought to be in the running for his signature as well. If you asked anyone well connected at Manchester United at the time they would have expected Harrop to fulfil his potential and have a great career. Now just three days shy of his 27th birthday, and his career as yet to fully get going.
He showed his ability on plenty of occasions for Preston, but was perhaps unfairly never given a consistent run of games by his first manager at the club; Alex Neil. A standout moment in his first season and when he announced himself to us was a goal from a free-kick against Sunderland. I also remember him being key in a late win at Bramall Lane which kept us took our hopes of sneaking into the play-offs into the final game of the season.
A bad injury against West Bromwich Albion early on in the next season, but his second Deepdale campaign to an early end. The 19/20 season saw him score eight goals at an average of one every 200 minutes. There were some spectacular goals in that time too, including a stunner against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park that secured a point. This was the season that he really did deserve more time on the pitch but Neil struggled with where was best to play him.
The next two seasons saw him out of favour and sent out loan to Ipswich Town and Fleetwood Town in League One, Neither were successful, with Harrop receiving a red card at Ipswich and getting injured just four minutes into his debut with Fleetwood. In the end Harrop’s contract at Preston was ended with a year left on it.
Hopefully his injury problems are behind him, and he can get some much needed football at Northampton because there is a very talented player in there.