I was Harvey Elliott’s team-mate as a top academy prospect but I quit football to go to Harvard

JAMES FAHMY has revealed how he swapped a chance of becoming a professional football for a spot at Harvard University.

The former QPR prospect was team-mates with Harvey Elliott before the now-Liverpool star left for Fulham.

Fahmy, 20, also played against the likes of Chelsea star Armando Broja, Liverpool midfielder Fabio Carvalho and Southampton youngster Caleb Watts.

However, after turning 19, he opted to leave Loftus Road in order to pursue a different line of work.

Fahmy had been at the club for 13 years but preferred to keep an eye on his studies while at QPR, which allowed him to continue going to school and take his A-Levels.

He said on the ThreeSixty TV series : “At the time when everybody was signing their scholarships, I decided to take a slightly different route.

“I decided to take a schoolboy scholarship instead, which meant that I could still attend school and take my A-levels.

“That was a difficult decision in itself but I decided to take that step in order to have a Plan B just in case football didn’t work out for me in the long term.”

The former defender wanted to know he had more security than what would be provided in football.

He added: “I had a broad mindset of not just a two-year plan, but a five-year plan, a ten-year plan, and I started to look into American universities as a Plan B in case I didn’t get my professional contract with QPR.”

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And it paid off as he achieved As and A*s in his A Levels and was offered a scholarship to Harvard by a scout from the American University who had been visiting the QPR training ground.

The option does not rule out a future in football for the 20-year-old as he can always be drafted by MLS clubs in a similar nature to former New York City FC and current Leeds star Jack Harrison.

Fahmy said: “The level over in America has such high quality, which really surprised me.

“And the level over there has still allowed me to improve as a football player, every day training with good quality players.

“It proved to me that I made the right decision because I can carry on as a football player, I can explore the potential to be drafted.

“I suppose the best example of that is Jack Harrison at Leeds, who took the American college route and then went to New York City FC.

“However, if football doesn’t work out for me, I’m at such a great place here at Harvard with the support network and all of the social connections that I’ve made. That will help me out in other career opportunities.”

Fahmy has insisted that current young players must evaluate their futures to make sure they know what other options they can explore rather than putting all their hopes in making it as a Premier League or Championship footballer.

He added: “The message that I would want to give to anybody in the academy system would be to think to yourself what defines success for you?

“If your only way is to play Premier League or Championship level and it’s either that or nothing, then I would advise that you take a step back and look at a broader picture and see what other options there are out there.”