Barcelona’s Rejected Bid for Lucas Herrington Looks Cheap Already

Colorado Rapids turned down a reported €10 million (about $10.8 million) bid from Barcelona for teenage defender Lucas Herrington in June, and that call already looks shrewd. A month on, the 18-year-old Australian has started two World Cup matches for the Socceroos. He missed the decisive penalty in their shootout loss to Egypt, then picked up his first MLS All-Star nod anyway, and his price keeps climbing.

Barcelona chased him alone back in June. Now more than a dozen clubs across Europe and the Premier League are chasing him too, and Colorado structured its finances months ago to keep the entire fee for itself whenever he goes.

The Penalty Miss That Raised His Price

Herrington debuted for Australia in March against Cameroon and made the 26-man World Cup squad on May 31, the youngest player in the group. He sat out the Socceroos’ first two group games, against Türkiye and the United States.

Group D had already produced one cagey stalemate, a United States and Paraguay draw that had one sportsbook’s odds pointing toward exactly that outcome, according to pre-match pricing from Caesars. Needing a result of his own, head coach Tony Popovic threw the debutant into a must-win finale against Paraguay on June 25, and Australia ground out a scoreless draw to finish second in the group with four points.

Herrington started again in the Round of 32 against Egypt on July 3, playing all 120 minutes before the match went to penalties. He stepped up to take Australia’s fifth kick. It sailed over the crossbar, and Egypt converted its next attempt to win the shootout.

You score, you become a hero. You don’t score, sadly, you become zero.

Zlatan Ibrahimović, the former Sweden international and Fox Sports analyst, offered that reaction alongside fellow pundit Thierry Henry after watching the 18-year-old’s miss. Both men praised him for having the nerve to take the kick at all.

Nine days later, Colorado gave him something to celebrate. The Rapids named Herrington to the 2026 MLS All-Star Game, his first selection at the club. “Lucas has earned this recognition with his performances for both club and country,” said Rapids president Pádraig Smith in the club’s announcement.

The club’s own social feed had already made its feelings clear right after the Egypt match. “At 18, this is just the beginning,” Colorado Rapids posted on X, calling him the youngest MLS player ever to appear at a World Cup.

Why Colorado Said No to Barcelona

The rejection happened in June. Multiple outlets, including Yahoo Sports and TransferFeed, independently put the offer at close to €10 million, filling in what the earliest reports had only called an undisclosed figure. Colorado’s answer was simple: not enough.

Herrington signed with the Rapids on a contract running through 2029, with a club option for one more year, leaving Colorado under no pressure to discount him. Football Australia’s own player profile shows just four senior caps before the World Cup even began, evidence of how fast he went from unknown prospect to a fee-moving asset.

Manuel Veth, Transfermarkt’s area manager for North America, argues Herrington skipped Europe at 18 for a simple reason: money. MLS clubs, in his view, are increasingly outbidding Australian and even some European sides for teenage talent, part of a widening Australia-to-MLS pipeline that shows no sign of slowing down.

How High Can Herrington’s Price Go?

Nobody agrees on an exact figure, but every public estimate has moved the same direction: up. The most independent number comes from the CIES Football Observatory, a research group that models player values off performance data, which puts Herrington’s real market value between $23 million and $30 million, more than double what Barcelona already tried and failed to pay.

Clear Colorado’s number and Herrington would smash the existing Australian transfer record by a wide margin, joining a list of countrymen, Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Aaron Mooy among them, whose reputations took years to build instead of months.

More Than a Dozen Clubs Chase One Teenage Defender

TeamTalk transfer reporter Graeme Bailey calls him “one of the hottest properties of the transfer window,” and the list of suitors backs that up.

• Premier League: Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle have all been credited with scouting reports or exploratory contact.
• Bundesliga: Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig are tracking him closely after his World Cup performances.
• Elsewhere in Europe: Napoli, Monaco, Lille, Atalanta, Union Saint-Gilloise and Ajax have also sent scouts to watch him.
• English second tier: Championship clubs Burnley and Watford have registered interest of their own.

His own teammate vouches for the hype. “He’s super composed, super relaxed on the ball, under pressure,” said Rob Holding, the former Arsenal defender now playing alongside Herrington at Colorado. Herrington also ranks second in MLS for passes completed, with a 94 percent success rate, according to This Is Anfield’s reporting on the Rapids’ possession game.

Barcelona’s Interest Depends on Who You Ask

Not every outlet agrees on where Barcelona actually stands right now.

• Mundo Deportivo reported in late June that Herrington was no longer one of Barcelona’s most advanced targets, with the club’s transfer focus drifting toward a new centre-forward instead.
• TEAMtalk describes Barcelona as actively preparing to battle Premier League rivals for his signature, in one of the most recent reports on the chase.
• CaughtOffside places Barcelona’s interest as concrete while naming Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United as the clubs pushing hardest.

It fits a pattern. Barcelona has tried the same patient, discount-seeking approach this summer in its pursuit of Marcus Rashford, where its gamble to underpay carried its own deadline pressure, and reportedly turned its sights on Diego Forlán’s price test on Julian Alvarez when the Herrington talks stalled. That patience has not worked on Colorado, which has not budged from its number.

Brisbane Roar’s Costly Exit from the Deal

Brisbane Roar agreed to sell Herrington to Colorado in August 2025 for a reported €450,000, with the move completing when Colorado’s season opened in January 2026. The Queensland club inserted a 20 percent sell-on clause into that deal, entitling it to a cut of any future transfer.

Colorado had other plans. Weeks before Barcelona’s bid arrived, the Rapids paid Brisbane a reported €560,000 to buy out that clause entirely, according to Transfermarkt’s reporting on the deal. It means Colorado keeps the whole fee whenever Herrington finally moves, instead of sending a slice back to Brisbane.

Socceroos teammate and group-stage goal scorer Connor Metcalfe said Brisbane will be “probably kicking themselves” over cashing out early.

Brisbane’s own numbers hinted at what it was selling. In his first senior season, Herrington won 70 percent of his duels and 72.1 percent of his aerial duels, the club’s own player statistics show, numbers scouts rarely see from a teenage centre-back.

The Irankunda Warning from Inside His Own Camp

Herrington is not the first Australian teenager to carry this kind of hype into a big move, and his own dressing room holds a cautionary tale. Nestory Irankunda left Adelaide United for Bayern Munich in 2024 as a similarly hyped prospect. He never played a first-team minute for the Bundesliga champions.

Bayern loaned him to Grasshopper Zurich before he moved on to Watford. Now 20 and still on Australia’s World Cup roster as a winger, Irankunda has yet to recapture the momentum he had at 18.

Ruben Zadkovich, Brisbane Roar’s coach at the time, rated Herrington the best teenage defender in the country when he was just 16. Two years on, the tag does not seem to weigh on him, not even after a penalty miss watched by a global audience.

Herrington’s next audition comes July 29, when he lines up for the MLS All-Stars against Liga MX’s best at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Every scout chasing him this summer will be watching.

Frequently Asked Questions

Could Lucas Herrington Join a European Club but Stay in MLS Next Season?

Yes, that arrangement has already been floated. TeamTalk reports Colorado Rapids would welcome a deal that lets Herrington spend another season on loan in MLS before actually moving to Europe, an option believed to appeal to several of his suitors.

What Other Countries Could Lucas Herrington Have Played For?

Herrington qualifies for four countries through family background: Australia, Finland, Germany and Zimbabwe. He chose to represent Australia, the country of his birth, and his older brother, Diesel Herrington, is also a professional soccer player.

Is Nestory Irankunda Still Part of Australia’s World Cup Squad?

Yes. Irankunda, now 20 and playing for Watford after his Bayern Munich move stalled, remains part of Tony Popovic’s World Cup squad as a winger, and has needled Herrington good naturedly in interviews throughout the tournament.

Who Else Is on the 2026 MLS All-Star Roster With Herrington?

The All-Star squad includes Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, LAFC’s Son Heung-min and Vancouver Whitecaps’ Thomas Müller. Herrington was a coach’s selection by Charlotte FC’s Dean Smith, making him the Rapids’ first All-Star since 2024.