"It did not sit right with me" - Will Hughes' Derby County exit to Watford questioned | OneFootball

The academy graduate made the switch to the Hornets in 2017, much to the disappointment of supporters.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Derby County's transfer business throughout the 2010s was a very mixed bag, with some of the decisions made proving to be extremely costly.

The Rams spent big as they sought a return to the Premier League after last playing in the top flight in the 2007/08 campaign, a season that will never be forgotten for all the wrong reasons.

An upturn in fortunes throughout the next decade saw the East Midlands club come close to promotion on several occasions. Four play-off campaigns between 2014 and 2019 all resulted in heartbreak, as the team pushed for an exit from the Championship with Mel Morris as their owner.

Derby's squad changed frequently throughout this time, and supporters will still have many memories and regrets over players that came through the door at Pride Park at that time, as well as those who left.

Will Hughes named as player who was sold too early

While fans will have several names in mind when it comes to players that got sold too early, for the majority, only one name will enter their minds.

The Rams have had a fantastic academy over the course of the last 15 years, and Moor Farm has produced some extremely talented stars that populate the EFL, as well as a few that have featured in the Premier League.

For Football League World's Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, there is only one answer when it comes to which player he believes was sold earlier than he needed to be.

He told FLW: "For me, it's Will Hughes. He was only 22 when we let him go, and with all due respect, he went to Watford, which to me is hardly a step-up. Yes, they were a Premier League club, but they're a bit of a yo-yo club, and it wasn't exactly like he was going to a bigger club in my opinion.

"So, if he'd gone to Liverpool or Arsenal, I think most Derby fans would have understood that, but to go to Watford, it did not sit right with me.

"Unfortunately, once Gary Rowett came into the club, I think Will Hughes probably knew his days were numbered because he's not really the type of player that Gary Rowett's going to trust in the hustle and bustle of the Championship."

Shaun continued: "So, for such a talented player that we had at the club, it just kind of fizzled out for him, which was a real shame. For someone that was going to go so far in the game, he should have been at Derby and I think we would have done so much better with him in the side.

"So that's one of my regrets massively is that we let him go, but he's gone on to have a great career or a decent career in the Premier League, and it's a shame it wasn't with us."

Hughes has done well after leaving Derby

Hughes enjoyed a spell of being the starboy at Derby, particularly during his early days at the club, with Manchester United and Liverpool reportedly showing interest in the midfielder when he was a teenager.

However, the Premier League clubs never came calling, and the academy graduate became a fan's favourite at Pride Park before leaving in 2017 for Watford. The Hornets paid £5m for the then 22-year-old, a fee that was set to rise to £9m through add-ons.

He spent four seasons in Hertfordshire, before moving to Crystal Palace ahead of the 2021/22 season, a club that he has become a key figure at during his time there so far.

A now regular in the Premier League, Hughes' rise to being a top flight star for a consistently strong club has been everything that Derby fans would have predicted when he first came through in the early 2010s. But, there will be a level of regret that it was not with them after they came so close to winning promotion during his time at Pride Park.