Hello! My name is Elliott and I’ve been interested in football for as long as I can remember and started followed Derby from a young age. I use football as an escape from reality at times and that 90 minutes of gameplay helps me switch off from everything else that’s going on. As I’ve got older I have become interested in the ‘football politics’ side of the game and the controversial nature of it (something which Derby seem to be all to often involved in). I used to enjoy writing when I was at school so along as I was interested in the topic and have recently thought I could add my thoughts and opinions to Derby County news moving forward. This is my first written piece on Derby so please be kind! I intend to write more with my own take on the events moving forward.
Cast your minds back to the 18/19 season and Harry Wilson had signed on loan for Derby County for a £2 million loan fee from Liverpool. Prior to this, Wilson’s first outing in the Championship came with Hull in the 17/18 season where he scored 7 goals and claimed 4 assists in 13 appearances. Stats like this do not go unnoticed in the Championship, especially for young players and many clubs were vying for the signature of Wilson but with the pulling power of Frank Lampard, Derby secured the deal.
Wilson did take time to settle in a Rams shirt and as he was somewhat of an unknown entity to Derby supporters as many fans did not know exactly what to expect. As with any player in a Derby shirt, if they do not light up the field after a few appearances some sections of the fan base grow restless. Derby fans had to wait until the 22nd of September 2018 for Wilson to score his first Derby goal. A home match against Brentford and a swift counter attack following a Bees corner gave Derby fans a glimpse of what Wilson could do. Wilson then began to find his range in black white where he began to score some utterly ridiculous long-range goals. Wilson enjoyed a productive season with Derby where he made 40 Championship appearances, scoring 15 goals and claiming three assists which will have pleased his parent club Liverpool greatly. Derby fans will remember Wilson fondly as he scored so many crucial and truly outstanding goals, most notably that free kick against Manchester United.
Many Derby fans would have loved Wilson to stay at Pride Park for another season but following the defeat in the play-off final to Aston Villa and the departure of Frank Lampard, this seemed unlikely. Wilson, like his parent club Liverpool had his eyes set on the Premier League and rightly so following an impressive season in the championship. Wilson signed on loan for Bournemouth last season and picked up where he left off with Derby, scoring a long-range effort against Villa on his debut. Wilson finished the season scoring seven goals for The Cherries, however this couldn’t prevent his sides relegation to the Championship.
Seven goals in a debut season in the Premier League is an impressive effort for a young player, which begs the question why is he still with Liverpool despite not making their squad? Wilson seems surplus to requirements at Liverpool and has recently not made their Champions League squad, with Xherdan Shaqiri ahead of him in the pecking order. The first part of the transfer window slammed shut on October 5th meaning that Wilson can no longer leave Liverpool for a Premier League club on loan or on a permanent transfer. There was interest in Wilson with Burnley rumoured to make an offer worth £16m and Liverpool rejecting it as they valued Wilson around the £20m mark. However with Burnley only making one signing in Dale Stephens worth just over £1m was there ever any truth in this rumour?
Harry Wilson can still be loaned out or sold to a Championship club and it appears that Liverpool would prefer a sale. In the current financial climate, it is highly unlikely that any Championship club would be able to, or want to risk paying a sizeable fee for Wilson. ‘Creative accounting’, rightly or wrongly is something Derby have utilised in the past to skirt around Financial Fair Play restrictions and to also secure the signing of Wayne Rooney, but could they find a way of prising Wilson away from Liverpool? Obviously, Liverpool hold all the cards here and could wait until the January transfer window to allow Wilson to leave. Derby could offer a loan with an obligation to buy Wilson, which is becoming more common in the football market. Most notably Leeds and Fulham signed Helder Costa and Anthony Knockaert on loan respectively and then the following season these signings were made permanent for fees in excess of £10m.
With Harry Wilson now aged 23, he will want a place to settle knowing that he can play regular first team football, something he is not going to find at Liverpool. Whether Derby fans will see Wilson back in the Championship remains to be seen, however it would be a fantastic acquisition for Derby should they go in for him.
Comments