George Byers

Watford

Byers is a youth product of the Watford Academy, joining the club at age seven. He had previously trained with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Manager Gianfranco Zola took him on a pre-season trip to Italy with the first-team in 2013. In May 2014, Byers signed a professional (two-year) deal with Watford. On 17 January 2015, he made his senior debut as a substitute in a 5–0 win over Charlton Athletic at Vicarage Road. Manager Slaviša Jokanović said that "he is still young but he can be an important player for us in the future". The club were promoted from the Championship to the Premier League at the end of the 2014–15 campaign. He was linked with a loan move to Romanian side Rapid București in February 2016, though the deal fell through. He left Watford upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2015–16 season. In addition to Zola and Jokanović, he also cited teammate Troy Deeney and coach Harry Kewell as being greatly supportive during his time at Watford.

Swansea City

On 11 July 2016, Byers joined Premier League club Swansea City. He chose the Welsh club ahead of a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was played in the number 10 role by youth coaches Gary Richards and Cameron Toshack. He scored eight goals for the youth team in the 2016–17 season as they lifted the Premier League Cup and won promotion from Professional Development League 2. He was named the Under-23s Player of the Season for 2017–18 after scoring nine goals and providing…

Byers represented Scotland at both under-16 and under-17 level. He fell out of the international youth set-up after fracturing his back at age 18.

Byers is a central midfielder with excellent passing ability who can play box-to-box or as a deep-lying playmaker. He has also been described as "tough-tackling".

George William Byers was born in Ilford on 29 May 1996. His family originally came from Glasgow and supported Rangers, and his father had previously worked in the club shop at Ibrox Stadium. He remained a keen Rangers fan growing up in Essex. As a young child he played Sunday league football with Redbridge.