NORTH Wales footballing sensation Harry Wilson turns 25 years old today and it's fair to say he's enjoyed some fantastic career highlights to date.

Born on this date (March 22) in Wrexham, the Fulham FC winger went on to attend Ysgol Dinas Bran school in Llangollen and was brought up in the Denbighshire town of Corwen.

From a young age, his footballing talents were clear to see and the family made national headlines when he made his international debut for Wales aged just 16 years and 207 days old v Belgium in October 2013.

That is because his grandfather, Peter Edwards, netted £125,000 as a result of having placed a bet of £50 with bookies William Hill on Harry to someday go on and play for Wales when he was just 18-months old.

Read more: Neco Williams, Harry Wilson and Owen Beck flying the flag for north Wales football

By now, Wilson has earned 34 caps for his country, scoring on 5 occasions.

He has also starred for the likes of Hull City, Derby County, Bournemouth and Cardiff City at both EFL Championship and Premier League level before arriving at current club Fulham.

This season, he has impressed greatly by netting 10 goals and assisting 14 times for Fulham who are chasing promotion back to the top-flight.

On what is now Wilson's 25th birthday today, the Leader is taking a look at a timeline of events for the winger so far during his career.

Penblwydd Hapus Harry!

TIMELINE OF WILSON'S CLUB CAREER TO DATE

  • Wilson first signed to Liverpool as a member of the U9s squad.
  • At the age of 15, he became a full-time member of the Liverpool Academy squad.
  • In July 2014, Wilson signed his first professional contract with Liverpool FC. 
  • He competed in the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League in which Liverpool reached the last 16, and scored an 88th-minute winner in a 3–2 home win over Real Madrid on October 22 2014.
  • On August 26 2015, Wilson joined League One side Crewe Alexandra on a youth loan deal for four months. 
  • In July 2016, Wilson signed a new contract with Liverpool and was named the under-23 captain.
  • He made his first team debut for the club in January 2017, in a 1–0 away win over Plymouth Argyle in an FA Cup third round replay, replacing Philippe Coutinho in the 65th minute.
  • Wilson was then named Liverpool Academy Players' Player of the Year for the 2017–18 season.

The Leader:

PIC: Harry Wilson playing for Liverpool against Chester in a pre-season friendly

  • In January 2018, he signed another new deal with Liverpool and was loaned to Hull City until the end of the season. 
  • Wilson scored seven goals in 13 league appearances for Hull during his loan spell there.
  • In July 2018, Wilson signed a new five-year contract at Liverpool. 
  • He then joined Championship club Derby County on a season-long loan. 
  • Wilson joined Premier League club AFC Bournemouth in August 2019 on loan for the 2019–20 season. 
  • On 16 October 2020, Wilson joined Championship club Cardiff City on a season-long loan. 
  • Wilson scored his first professional hat trick in a 4–0 away win at Birmingham City on May 1 2021.
  • In July 2021, he made a permanent move away from Liverpool as he joined Fulham on a five-year deal. He has so far scored 10 goals for the London club.

AND WITH WALES ...

The Leader:

PIC: Harry Wilson during an open Wales training session at The Racecourse

  • Wilson first caught the eye of then-Wales manager Chris Coleman when he impressed in the Victory Shield for Wales at under-17 level.
  • In October 2013, he was called up by the Wales national football team at the age of 16. Wilson made his debut four days later against Belgium, when he came on as a substitute for Hal Robson-Kanu in the 87th minute. He became the youngest player ever to play for Wales, beating the previous record holder Gareth Bale by 108 days. 
  • He also became Liverpool's youngest international at the age of 16 years and 207 days.
  • Wilson was included in Wales' squad for the China Cup in March 2018. On his first international start, against hosts China, he scored his first goal in a 6–0 semi-final win - on what was his 21st birthday.
  • On 16 October that year, Wales travelled to play the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League and Wilson scored the only goal of the game with a long-range free kick.
  • In May 2021, he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.