Official statement given as Birmingham City star withdrawn from international duty

Birmingham City midfielder Luke Harris has been forced to withdraw from the Wales squad - despite only recently being called up.

The 19-year-old was only drafted in to the squad three days ago, having initially been left out of Craig Bellamy’s original list. He was brought in alongside Charlie Savage and Jay Dasilva to replace Owen Beck, Wes Burns, and Kieffer Moore but he he has since withdrawn, and no replacement has been named.

Wales play Turkey (November 16) and Iceland (November 18) in their final two fixtures of their 2024/25 Nations League campaign. Harris could have come up against his club teammates Alfons Sampsted and Willum Willumsson before his withdrawal.

A statement published on the Cymru feed on social media platform X read: “DIWEDDARIAD CARFAN Luke Harris has been forced to withdraw from the upcoming #UNL matches due to illness. Brysia wella Luke.”

His withdrawal means that will have to wait that little bit longer to make his debut for Wales. He was called up to the senior squad in September 2022 by Rob Page, but was an unused substitute, and since then has sat on the bench five more times, and is yet to get on the pitch in the red of Wales at senior level.

Born in Jersey, Harris qualifies for Wales through his Welsh father. He was captain of the under-17s team, and has six caps for the under-21s.

The attacking midfielder is currently on a season-long loan deal at St Andrew's from Fulham. He has made eight appearances in all competitions so far with one goal scored, which came in a 3-2 win over Wycombe Wanderers. An ankle injury had Harris sidelined from early September to towards the end of October, but he returned against Mansfield Town, and has since made appearances against Sutton United and Northampton Town.

Birmingham City face Shrewsbury Town at the New Meadow in their next fixture on Saturday, November 23 at 12.30 pm. With the match being over a week away, it's hopeful that Harris will recover in time to feature.