Málaga's Scottish forward Jack Harper reveals why he left Real Madrid | OneFootball

Jack Harper hasn’t had a typical football journey.

Born to Scottish parents, his family all moved to Spain with his older brothers before Harper was born.

He grew up in Fuengirola, a short drive from Málaga, where he played for his local side Fuengirola Los Boliches until he was 13.

That’s when he got Real Madrid’s attention.

“Almeria didn’t have a youth system so they called lots of players from [the towns of] Malaga and Almeria and I got picked,” Harper told Guillem Balague on BBC Radio 5 live’s Football Daily.

“We beat Real Madrid 2-0 and from there they would have known who I was.”

After the match, the Real Madrid academy signed Harper, which forced him to move to Madrid full-time, six hours away from his family. Harper lived at the training ground and attended private school.

“I lived basically in the digs,” Harper said.

“Lots of players have come through there – Juan Mata, Alvaro Negredo, Roberto Soldado – and you are living with 50 other kids.

“Going to a private school is something I will always remember. Here in Málaga, I would never have done that.

“Being in school with 50 different kids every day – you learn to grow up as a person.”

Harper impressed at Real Madrid and moved through the ranks, eventually making the Real Madrid ‘C’ squad.

“The dressing rooms [of the age-group teams] get closer and closer to the first team,” Harper said.

“In my last year we were really close. I remember in the gym or in the hydrotherapy baths you would see them and it was a bit of a shock at the start, seeing people you have only seen on television.

“But then you realise they are just footballers like you and are a motivation to be playing against them or with them one day.”

At 18 years old, Harper still had two years left on his Real Madrid deal, but opted to move to the Brighton and Hove Albion, then in the Championship.

He wouldn’t make a first-team appearance for the club due to a lingering knee injury.

“They (Real Madrid) wanted to loan me out but apart from me, there were another 30 or 40 players being loaned out, so I thought it was a good time to leave,” he said.

“It (moving to England) was a big change, a shock. I finished my contract at Madrid and finished with quite a bad knee injury.

“It should only have been a one or two-month injury but it developed into something worse. I was out for six months.

“Signing for a new team and not being able to do what you are there to do is quite hard.”

He then moved back home with his parents to play on the Málaga ‘B’ squad, then in the fourth division of Spain.

Harper spent two seasons in the reserves, helping them gain promotion to the third tier.

He made his Málaga first-team debut this season and has been a key part of the squad, scoring three goals and adding an assist in 15 Segunda División matches for the newly-relegated side.

“I felt going home and being where I am comfortable was the best option at the time – taking one step back to go two forward and I think that is what happened,” Harper said.

“In Spain, with reserve teams you are competing with men and I think that was what I needed at the time.

“I went straight back to mum and dad’s,” Harper said. “I felt they owed me a few years of being taken care of.

“I left when I was 13, I have only been home now for two years so I am basically 15.

“We live in a house and I live in the basement. It sounds bad but it is really nice. It is like my own little flat.”

Harper is eligible to play for both Spain and Scotland. He has represented the Scots at the U-17, U-19, and U-21 levels.

Málaga are currently in third place in the Segunda División, one point behind leaders Granada.