Derby County player secures Championship transfer move | OneFootball

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Football League World

·1 July 2022

Derby County player secures Championship transfer move

Article image:Derby County player secures Championship transfer move

Derby County have lost yet another player due to their off-field issues as youngster Louie Watson has penned a deal with Championship outfit Luton Town.

The Rams, who were relegated to League One following the conclusion of the 2021-22 second tier season, have been unable to offer their out of contract players new deals because they are yet to come out of administration – nine months after former owner Mel Morris placed them into it.


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Fresh hope has been delivered in the form of lifelong fan David Clowes, who is looking to tie up his acquisition of County following the breakdown of American businessman Chris Kirchner’s bid, but it is yet to get over the line, despite the situation looking promising.

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In the meantime, interim boss Liam Rosenior has watched another player slip away from his grasp, as attacking midfielder Watson has opted to join Nathan Jones’ squad at Kenilworth Road.

The 21-year-old, who is a Republic of Ireland youth international, joined the Rams in 2020 from West Ham United and made 13 appearances in the Championship during his time at Pride Park.

Luton have now taken advantage of Derby’s struggles to bring the youngster to the Hatters, with Town securing his services for an undisclosed fee.

The Verdict

The only positive for Derby is that they’ve managed to secure a fee for Watson and they do not have to go to a tribunal to decide how much Luton pay.

We perhaps saw Watson a bit less than expected last season – despite the small squad that Wayne Rooney had at his disposal, Watson only appeared four times in the league.

He was however a regular in Derby’s under-23’s in the Premier League 2 competition, meaning Watson was playing to a decent-enough standard, and he’s clearly shown more-than enough talent for Luton to take a chance on him.

Watson would have had a good chance of featuring more regularly for Derby if he stayed at the club beyond the end of last season, but Rams supporters have now had to watch another promising youngster depart for pastures new.

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