Derby County were no stranger to the boom and bust of transfer business in the 2010s. The Rams splashed out in their pursuit of a return to the Premier League dream since they were last there in 2007/08 – when they suffered unforgettable heartache.
The new decade dawned to the ebb and flow of Derby County’s fate, promotion tantalisingly within grasp several times. Yet heartache prevailed, as four tilt at the playoffs between 2014 and 2019 left supporters pining to thwart the second tier’s stranglehold, all as Mel Morris held the keys to the club’s direction. During this most turbulent of times, there were near-constant overhauls of Derby’s squad, a mixed bag of crowd-pleasing hits and missed opportunities concerning comings and goings at Pride Park.
Their are numerous player exits that grieve, but one player, Will Hughes, tops the list of fans’ minds. The prodigious talent developed at the hail’d Moor Farm Academy was leaving, at just 22, and heading to Watford in a switch that inspired many questioning its wisdom. Applying for the role at Watford felt like a sideways step at best—something echoed by Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward—who still held the appeal of a Premier League status.
In contemplating Hughes’ departure, Woodward said, “I regret losing Will Hughes, it has left a sour taste that he as such a talented player has gone so young to a top club. A between the powerhouse `nArsenals or Liv’ would have been a more logical step than a Watford, but they were not a club well placed to Servicios a lost opportunity. With Gary Rowett now at the helm, Hughes’ future at Derby was in doubt given the manager’s appreciation for the harsher realities of Championship football.
Will Hughes remains perhaps one of the most Embodied examples of why transfer sagas in all the Derby county transfer sagas of the 2010s period should make great drama as reading stories of transfers were once a solid notion, compared to his dealing over a season in low league gaining more experience with less manoeuvrings in a high horse drama that left Hughes doing the opposite and falling far apart from Derby in a closing doorway in a useful bird box piled high with capital to bring competition but players needed flapping around and yet creating the ruthless restructuring as Hughes resurfaced and taking chances either way we won’t know if Hughes is a one off or a Williams, Evans or Jacobs locked out but it seems Hughes with a prudent mind..
Shaun regretted the missed opportunity and pondered on the fact that a player as talented as Hughes did not get the best out of his time at the club. Shaun said Hughes would have made a big difference to the team. He accepted Hughes had a track record of success in the Premier League after leaving Derby but admitted: “It was wrong to let him leave.
In his early days at Derby, Hughes, then a promising young lad, had interest from top clubs around the country like the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool. Alas, despite his fanfare fans at Pride Park, a Premier League move never materialised. Hughes joined Watford in 2017 for £5m, which could rise to £9m with addons. He had spent four seasons with Watford before moving to Crystal Palace in 2021/22, signing on as a pivotal part of the Palace set-up with a six-year contract.
Now making a name for himself in the Premier League, Hughes’ rise to success was what Derby fans hoped they saw when he first came through in the early 2010s. But for the fans, there are still some bittersweet feelings about losing a player who so nearly made it to the top with their team.