Lucas Herrington's move to Hull City has been confirmed, with the newly-promoted Premier League side announcing the signing of the Australian international from the Colorado Rapids on a five-year contract on Wednesday.
Herrington, 18, only secured a move to Denver in January, but will now fetch the MLS side a reported transfer fee of approximately £12.6m ($USD17m), according to The Athletic, which could rise by up to £4.4m ($USD 6m) in add-ons and also includes a 15% sell-on fee.
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That would eclipse the sale of Đorđe Mihailović to Toronto FC as the most lucrative in the Rapids history, continuing a trend that has seen them turn Moïse Bombito (OGC Nice), Auston Trusty (Arsenal, now Celtic), and Cole Bassett (Portland Timbers) into healthy transfer fees.
It would also surpass the decade-old record of just over £10m that Hull paid for Ryan Mason back in 2016, but falls short of the reported £20 million, plus add-ons, the Tigers spent on Greek international goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis from Olympiacos last week. It also comes in just shy of the Australian record £15m plus £5m in add-ons that Leicester paid Stoke City to sign Harry Souttar in 2023.
Praised by his teammates for showing maturity beyond his years, Herrington became the youngest Australian player to ever start a game at the men's World Cup when he lined up for the Socceroos against Paraguay in North America, and went on to start for Tony Popovic in his nation's round of 32 clash with Egypt.
The youngster joined Souttar in missing his penalty in the shootout that eliminated the Australians, with football legend Zlatan Ibrahimović subsequently sending a message of support and asking him to reach out if he needed it.
He was then the Rapids' lone representative MLS All-Star squad for the 2026 All-Star Game, starting alongside USMNT captain Tim Ream and South Korea skipper Son Heung-min as the MLS defeated the Liga MX All-Stars 4-3.
Making his professional debut for the Roar less than two years ago, Herrington agreed to a move to Colorado from the A-League Men outfit at the start of the 2025-26 season, moving in the January window upon turning 18.
The Queensland side initially had a 20% sell-on fee included in that transfer that would have entitled them to a minimum of $AUD 4.8m under the reported terms of his move to Hull, but which they will no longer receive after instead selling that right back to the Rapids for a reported $AU 560,000.