Aberdeen recently completed the signing of Harlain Mbayo.

The defender will be part of Paul Sheerin’s U20 squad for the rest of the season and next but he can’t play in the SPFL Development League until his international clearance has come through. (Club’s have to apply for this when signing cross-border youth players who are U18). Harlain did get a run out in the Testimonial game at Forres last Tuesday as that was a non-competitive match.

The right-footed centre back was born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is also a UK Citizen as he has lived in London since the age of five. The 17 year old previous played for Leyton Orient and Oxford Utd in England.

Paul Sheerin spoke to RedTV about his new recruit “Big Harlain has come in. He is 17. He is still very young and quite raw. He has still a bit to learn but he has all the right attributes. He is 6ft 2 or 3 and has a very good physique for such a young lad. So he is one that we are willing to take a chance on. He is very keen to learn as well and that is very important. He is a good listener, he is very determined and has a good work ethic. He is never out of the gym.
 
“As for his international clearance, he is in a similar position to what we had to do with David Craddock. David’s application from FIFA took about two months to come through. The process has been ongoing for three or four weeks now so hopefully it won’t be too long before we have him playing regularly. He will be a welcome addition to the squad.”

Everyone wishes Harlain well during his career at Pittodrie. afc.co.uk will speak to the youngster in the near future.