Joe Allen has hailed the rise of Harry Wilson but says it was evident his Wales team-mate would be a “brilliant player” when they were at Liverpool together.
Wilson never made the breakthrough at Anfield, making only a couple of first-team appearances before finding a permanent home at Fulham following a succession of loan moves.
But Allen, who made over 130 Liverpool appearances between 2012 and 2016, says Wilson’s talent and career success was obvious.
Joe Allen says Harry Wilson has fulfilled the promise he showed as a youngster at Liverpool (David Davies/PA)
The 27-year-old has emerged as his country’s talisman since the retirement of Gareth Bale nearly two years ago, becoming the first Wales player since the former Real Madrid star to score in three successive games during the current Nations League campaign.
Wilson has also been in fine scoring form for Fulham, coming off the bench to net three goals in his last two appearances against Brentford and Crystal Palace.
“Where Harry is now is where we all expected him to go,” Allen said ahead of Saturday’s crunch Nations League trip to Turkey.
“I was with him when he was a young kid at Liverpool, and it was clear that he was going to be a brilliant player and have a great career.
“He’s getting a lot of plaudits recently that he fully deserves. In truth, he’s been a key player for us for a number of years now.
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“With Fulham, he’s been making a big impact there as well. It’s great to see and hopefully he can ride this wave and take his form into his future with Wales.”
Allen returned to Wales action last month after quitting the international scene in February 2023.
He played a key role in closing out a 1-0 win over Montenegro – his 75th cap – which extended Craig Bellamy’s unbeaten start as Wales manager to four matches.
“It’s been brilliant. The first camp was obviously the big one where it was all quite emotional and a bit of a whirlwind,” said the 34-year-old Swansea midfielder.
Craig Bellamy has hit the ground running as Wales manager with two wins and two draws in his opening four games (David Davies/PA)
“But I’ve had the last month now to digest it all and I’ve been looking forward to being part of this one.
“I was lucky to be part of such a great group – or a few groups – over the years where the team spirit, the passion, the bonds were always second to none.
“Having been away for a couple of years, I’ve come back into a group that’s still in a great place.
“I think that, coupled with Craig and his team coming in with their new ideas and energy, it’s been a match made in heaven.
“The start reflects that and the task now is to build on that.”
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Wales will win Group B4 and secure promotion to League A by winning in Turkey and at home to Iceland on Tuesday.
That would provide a huge boost ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, which Allen says he does not know whether he will be part of as he is just “taking each camp as it comes”.
Allen said: “Craig spoke about how much further we’ve got to go and how many more improvements we can make.
“Everyone’s really looking forward to getting stuck into making that happen.
“The group have been brilliant at carrying his ideas out, and hopefully these next couple of games we can show that and more.”