Wolverhampton Wanderers are flying with Benik Afobe up top; if only Championship rivals Derby County had taken Kevin Phillips’ advice.
Derby County have won just one of their last 10 Championship games as their hopes of automatic promotion slip away. So the last thing Rams fans wanted to hear is that their unpopular former boss Paul Clement turned down the chance to bring Benik Afobe to Pride Park back in 2015.
Derby assistant coach Kevin Phillips revealed that he recommended Afobe, who was then in his first stint at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“When I first joined Derby two-and-a-half years ago with Paul Clement we sat down and I remember clearly he asked what it would take to get promoted and I said to go and sign Benik Afobe,” Phillips wrote in his Express and Star column.
“Paul thought it would cost £15m to sign him and I remarked that’d be the difference between going up or not.”
Considering that Derby are still a Championship team three years later, Phillips’ prediction has certainly come true. But not only are fans disappointed by their failure to sign a proven, prolific goal-scorer back then, they had their chance to loan Afobe in January but were nowhere to be seen.
While Derby brought in the hugely underwhelming Cameron Jerome, Afobe returned to Wolves on a short-term spell from Bournemouth.
And while Jerome has one goal in 10 games so far, Afobe has four in his last four with promotion looking a formality at Molineux. No wonder Derby fans are annoyed.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
