For Harry Souttar, the past 12 months have been punctuated by dizzying highs and personal lows. There was the World Cup, at which he excelled for Australia en route to the last 16, but only after the frustration of a year on the sidelines because of an anterior cruciate ligament injury. A fortnight ago he made his Premier League debut after a £15m move to Leicester from Stoke, whom he joined from Dundee United in 2016 as a 17-year-old. Last August came the crushing loss of his eldest brother, Aaron, who died at the age of 42 from motor neurone disease.
Souttar has since got a tattoo of Aaron, who was captain of his local golf club, Brechin, playing at St Andrews his brother’s favourite course, on his left forearm. “Before one of the games at the World Cup, the boss [Graham Arnold] did a great speech about: ‘Who you are doing it for? Who is in the stand watching, who is watching back home? Who is that one person you’re doing it for?’” Souttar says. “It was pretty simple for me. It’s nice to always have him with me.
