Kevin Phillips has revealed that he recommended Derby should have signed Bournemouth’s Benik Afobe from Wolves but Paul Clement said no.
Derby County assistant manager Kevin Phillips has revealed that he pushed for the club to sign Benik Afobe back when he was first hired in 2015.
After Phillips was appointed as Paul Clement’s understudy he told the then boss that they should move for Afobe as it could be the difference in getting promoted to the Premier League.
At the time the striker was playing in his first stint at Wolverhampton Wanderers, before moving to Bournemouth in the following transfer window in January.
Afobe is now back at Wolves on loan from the Cherries and helped them stretch their lead at the top of the Championship to six points at the weekend with two goals in a 3-1 victory against Burton Albion.
“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.
“That’s how highly I rate the guy at this level – he will guarantee you goals with the right service.”
Afobe has now scored four goals in nine appearances for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side since rejoining the club on a temporary deal in January.
In the second tier of English football the 25-year-old has now netted 30 times in 95 matches in total, but could it have all been so different if Derby had made the move for the forward?
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