San Diego Wave have completed the permanent signing of 19-year-old midfielder Laila Harbert from Arsenal on a contract through the 2029 NWSL season.
Harbert joined Arsenal at nine and signed her first professional contract in January 2025, but her senior development has taken place almost entirely away from the club.
Spells with Watford, Southampton, Portland Thorns and Everton exposed her to different levels of football without providing one permanent team around which to build her career. San Diego now offer that stability, and the responsibility that comes with it.
* **Player:** Laila Harbert
* **Date of birth:** 3 January 2007
* **Age:** 19
* **Position:** Midfielder
* **From:** Arsenal
* **To:** San Diego Wave
* **Transfer status:** Permanent transfer
* **Contract:** Through the 2029 NWSL season
Harbert’s senior pathway began while she was still part of Arsenal’s academy. She made 14 appearances for Watford during the 2023-24 campaign through a dual-registration agreement. A later period with Southampton brought another nine WSL 2 appearances, including eight starts.
Those moves gave Harbert early experience in English senior football before she signed her first professional Arsenal contract. Her development then moved abroad. Harbert joined Portland Thorns during the second half of the 2025 NWSL season and made five regular-season appearances.
Most recently, she spent the latter half of 2025-26 on loan with Everton in the [WSL](https://womenfootball.blog/womens-super-league-table-standings/). Each move introduced a new level, league or coaching environment. What Harbert still lacked was a senior club prepared to commit to her beyond a temporary agreement.
Laila Harbert is not entering the NWSL without understanding its demands. Her five appearances for Portland gave her direct experience of the competition, the travel and the adjustment required when moving from England to the United States.
That period was brief, but it gave San Diego evidence beyond academy performances and youth internationals. They have been able to assess how Harbert responded inside the league they are signing her to play in.
Sporting director Camille Ashton highlighted the midfielder’s technical quality, vision and composure under pressure. Those qualities explain the potential San Diego see. The next step is demonstrating them consistently across an NWSL season.
Harbert’s previous moves were designed around development before returning to Arsenal. San Diego’s agreement removes that temporary status. She is no longer playing for a loan club while her long-term future remains elsewhere.
A contract through 2029 gives Harbert time to establish herself, but it also means she must begin building a recognisable role within one team.
San Diego are not borrowing an Arsenal prospect. They are acquiring a player expected to contribute this season and develop into a more important part of the squad over the following years.
That commitment should provide continuity. It does not guarantee minutes, which Harbert must earn inside another competitive senior environment.
Laila Harbert’s England youth career has progressed more consistently than her club pathway. She captained the U17 Lionesses to their first UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship final in 2024 and later helped the team finish fourth at the U17 World Cup.
Harbert also contributed to England winning the Women’s U23 European Friendly Finals in April 2025. More recently, she started every match for the U19s as England secured qualification for the 2026 U20 Women’s World Cup.
Those experiences show that Harbert has been trusted with both leadership and starting responsibility at international level. San Diego must now create an environment in which those qualities can become visible every week at club level.
Harbert leaves Arsenal after a decade-long connection that began when she was nine. The academy provided her foundation, but Watford, Southampton, Portland and Everton supplied most of her senior education. San Diego will be the first club asked to bring all of those experiences together permanently.
Her pathway has already taken her through more environments than many players encounter by 19. The success of this move will depend on whether she can finally stop preparing for a future role and begin establishing one.
Source: [San Diego Wave](https://sandiegowavefc.com/san-diego-wave-fc-acquires-english-midfielder-laila-harbert/)