Will Hughes (Derby County): Scout Report

England U-21 manager Stuart Pearce described Hughes as “technically a very sound player”.”He rarely gave the ball away in training or in the game he played (against Northern Ireland), which is vitally important at international level. He’s progressing really well,” he added.

Hughes isn’t afraid to play the ball backwards and is often looking to play a one-two. He enjoys to dribble at defences but at times he seems afraid to take a shot, preferring to pass the ball on.

Hughes has the ability to put in a cracking tackle but at times seems reluctant to really get stuck in. At Derby, however, this hasn’t been so much of a problem as he has often been one of three centre mids so he has been able to not always track back. He lacks in strength, which for a lad of his physique is not surprising. Despite this he is not particularly quick, these are aspects of his game that he has already admitted to be working on. Bearing in mind he is only eighteen, Hughes certainly has time on his side to improve.

Transfer Situation

The January transfer window of 2013 brought much speculation on the future of Hughes. Clubs such as Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and even Spanish giants Barcelona had a dossier compiled on the player. Fulham were another side heavily linked with Hughes. Fulham manager Martin Jol said: “There are probably ten clubs in the Premier League having a look at him. He’s one of those wonderful talents, so he’s always on lists”. At one stage Manchester City reportedly had a £7m bid rejected. The end of the window came with a huge sense of relief as Derby had managed to hold onto their man for at least until the end of that campaign.

Since, Hughes has signed a contract extension tying him to the club until June 2016. Whether this is a tactic to increase his price as he would have to be bought out of his contract, remains to be seen. Derby chief executive Sam Rush has said he expects Hughes to still be at the club next season, and I hope he will be too. Bearing in mind a reported £7m bid has already been rejected in January I expect it would take £10m for the Rams to part with their man. Furthermore, if Wilfired Zaha can cost £15m I see no reason why £10m wouldn’t be a reasonable price for Hughes.

If Derby can manage to hold onto Hughes until 2016 it will give him the opportunity to develop as he would be guaranteed first-team football. There is a danger that a young talent at a huge club can simply find himself on the bench making the occasional substitute appearance here and there and this is what I fear may happen to Hughes. At Derby he would be able to flourish into the fantastic player he is capable of being and make his move onto the world stage when the time is right.