Derby County fans have seen their fair share of big-name players leave the club in recent years, but some stick out more than others.
With Derby County selling Will Hughes to Premier League side Watford for a transfer fee rumoured to be £4.5 million initially, rising to £7 million (Sky Sports), many Rams supporters are understandably bemused by the reported figure agreed for one of their prized assets.
Hughes burst into the Derby first team at just 16-years-old after all and has made 165 appearances for the club.
The 22-year-old midfielder had been linked with a move away from Pride Park for a number of years, but for a much more significant amount. Figures of £15 million onwards have been regularly quoted for the England U21 international over previous seasons.
This will not be the first time that Derby fans have been left underwhelmed by the club’s transfer dealings. We take a look at three other players that left the club for an alarmingly low transfer fee.
Matt Oakley to Leicester City – £500,000
Oakley was picked up on a free transfer in August 2006 after spending 12 years at Southampton. He was immediately installed as captain by Billy Davies and the midfielder led the club to promotion in his first season.
He made 42 appearances and scored six goals in the season as the Rams marched to the Premier League via the play-offs. Oakley continued to be a mainstay in the Derby midfield, scoring three goals in 19 top-flight games and proving himself one of the club’s only consistent performers in the first half of that infamous campaign.
So it understandably came as a surprise to their supporters when Derby agreed to sell him to rivals Leicester City for just £500,000 (BBC). The club’s fortunes did not improve when Oakley left midseason, as they went on to secure just 11 points, a record Premier League low.
Rob Hulse to Queens Park Rangers: £500,000
The Rams secured the same amount of money for the sale of Hulse. The centre-forward joined Championship rivals QPR on the final day of the summer transfer window in 2010 (GetWestLondon).
Derby fans were left outraged by the timing of the sale and the fact that Hulse was the club’s leading goalscorer for the previous two seasons. Hulse scored 31 goals in 96 appearances in two years, this was an impressive return considering the club’s struggles on the pitch.
Hulse became a victim of Nigel Clough’s cost cutting measures and was reunited with Neil Warnock at Loftus Road. If it is any consolation, Hulse’s time at Derby was his most prolific and he was unable to recapture his goalscoring touch after leaving Pride Park.
Tom Huddlestone to Tottenham Hotspur: £2.5 million
Huddlestone was handed his debut aged just 16 by George Burley in 2002. The midfielder did not look out of place in the Rams first-team after coming through the club’s youth ranks.
After an impressive number of seasons in the Rams midfield and showing maturity beyond his years, Derby agreed to sell Huddlestone to Spurs for just £2.5 million in January 2005 (Telegraph) – a small figure considering he was one of the country’s most promising players at the time. He made 95 appearances for Derby and would go on to make 209 appearances at White Hart Lane, in which time he earned four senior England caps.
The 30-year-old has spent the majority of his career in England’s top flight and has been linked with a move back to the Premier League this summer. With all this considered, Derby fans have every right to feel that they should have got more for one of the major success stories of their academy set-up.
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