CITY SIGN HARRY WILSON IN £1.2M LOAN DEAL
CARDIFF City new boy Harry Wilson is determined to help the club reach the Premier League after sealing a season-long loan move from Liverpool.
The Bluebirds yesterday wrapped up a loan deal for the Wales wing ace, beating off stiff competition from the likes of Swansea City, Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Norwich City to secure a deal to excite all City fans.
Cardiff’s pursuit of Wilson certainly came late on in the window, with the deal really only getting off the ground on the eve of the deadline.
However, Neil Harris and Mehmet Dalman were key to getting Wilson on board, while Liverpool were keen to see him flourish and spearhead a promotion charge just as Marko Grujic did for the Bluebirds a few years back.
It was originally thought that the loan deal, which could see City pay more £1m if certain clauses are met, would involve Cardiff paying all of the player’s wages, however it is now understood the Bluebirds will pay only a fraction of his salary.
Harris will be delighted to get this deal over the line, given he has been keen to bolster his attacking ranks further in the latter stages of the window, and will hope Wilson can add that creative spark which has just been missing in the opening few games.
Wilson, too, will be buoyed by the prospect of playing regular football, having missed out on a permanent move to Premier League outfit Burnley last week, and claims the club’s ambition and Welsh connection played a huge part in bringing him to the capital. “I’m looking forward to getting started here,” Wilson said.
“We had a few clubs enquire about me but as soon as I heard Cardiff were interested it was a place I wanted to come.
“The Welsh connection was a massive part for me. When I come here, I feel at home. I think the team and facilities we have, everything is built for a Premier League team.
“I’m determined to come here and do my best to help the club get there.”
The Wales international, who has 19 international caps to his name, becomes City’s fourth signing of the window after Kieffer Moore, Sheyi Ojo and Jordi OseiTutu.
NOT since Cardiff City shocked the football world by persuading Craig Bellamy to drop down from the Premier League for a season in 2010 has a transfer quite captured the imagination for Bluebirds fans as much as that of Harry Wilson.
It is a marquee signing that signals a real statement of intent – that Cardiff believe they can go up this season.
So, how did they come from nowhere to pull off such an audacious swoop on the final day of the window?
Earlier in the week Wales star Wilson appeared destined for Cardiff’s archrivals Swansea City.
There was an issue over the £1million loan fee Liverpool were said to be demanding, but these things tend to be negotiable and Swansea hadn’t completely given up hope.
Informed sources tell me Cardiff have paid short of seven figures at this stage to land Wilson, but if he helps them into the Premier League they will pay potentially double, or even treble that sum to the Premier League champions.
“Which Cardiff are more than happy with,” we were told. “It means they would have the riches of the Premier League, Liverpool will get extra money and Harry’s valuation will go up. So everyone makes money. Everyone is happy with the deal.”
However, it really was an 11th hour move that the Bluebirds somehow managed to pull off.
As recently as Wednesday, with Wilson away on Wales duty in Bulgaria, the Bluebirds were at the back of a queue thought to be very much headed up by their rivals down west.
Swansea had two big things going for them. The first was the special rapport boss Steve Cooper and coach Mike Marsh have with Wilson, having helped bring him through the Liverpool agegrade system.
The second was the money in the bank, so to speak, they had with Liverpool after aiding the development of Rhian Brewster last season which enabled Jurgen Klopp to sell the young striker to Sheffield United for £23 million.
Klopp, and the Swans, felt something similar could happen with Wilson, another gifted Liverpool young gun.
Re-negotiating that loan fee, coming
to an arrangement over Wilson’s wages, and holding off the threat of Derby County appeared to be the main obstacles standing in their way.
On Thursday morning Swansea still seemed to be Wilson’s most likely destination, according to those close to the player. Wilson had seen the success of Brewster at the Liberty and knew Cooper’s work inside out.
Then Cardiff made their move. And once Wilson heard about it, we’re told he set his sights on moving to the Welsh capital.
Wilson told Cardiff officials he loves the passion of Bluebirds fans, adores playing at Cardiff City Stadium and made it clear he felt Wales’ capital city side are a Premier League club in waiting. He wanted to do his bit to help them get there.
Wilson confirmed as much when his signing was announced at tea-time Friday, saying: “We had a few clubs enquire about me but as soon as I heard Cardiff were interested it was a place I wanted to come.
“The Welsh connection was a massive part for me. When I come here, I feel at home. I think the team and facilities we have, everything is built for a Premier League team. I’m determined to come here and do my best to help the club get there.”
Rewind a few hours, though, to get a taste of how quickly this deal was put together.
Bluebirds boss Neil Harris had targeted Barnsley front-runner Cauley Woodrow as a player he wanted. Woodrow linked well with Kieffer Moore at Oakwell previously and Harris was excited about what they could do for Cardiff.
West Brom’s Charlie Austin was also in the mix. He, it was felt, could guarantee goals at Championship level.
There was another big name Cardiff also discussed.
But once interest in Wilson was
expressed, it became clear the Bluebirds’ eggs were going into that basket. Owner Vincent Tan liked the idea of the Wales star playing for his team and urged Harris, chairman Mehmet Dalman and chief executive Ken Choo to go for it.
Woodrow would have been a permanent signing, may even have made more economic sense, but Wilson is clearly a much better player and the Bluebirds were determined to get a loan deal done.
They had a battle on their hands. Swansea were still believed to be in the driving seat, Derby were pulling hard, Bristol City entered the race at the 11th hour.
But Cardiff have negotiated with Liverpool seamlessly before, over the loan captures of Marko Grujic and Sheyi Ojo, and moved to do so again. The agreement on the terms of the loan struck means it is a self-paying move for the two parties. The more successful Wilson and Cardiff are, the more money Liverpool will get.
The Bluebirds are paying a proportion of Wilson’s wages. There are other clauses in the complicated deal.
But Cardiff have created room in the budget for a marquee signing, said to be on £60,000 a week at Liverpool, after getting Neil Etheridge, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Callum Paterson and Aden Flint off their books.
None of those were on poor wages. It is clearly up to Cardiff to decide how they wish to spend that surplus money. And, because of the terms of the Wilson deal, they feel it is worth the expenditure.
So do Bluebirds fans, who haven’t been quite as excited about a capture since the days of Bellamy coming home back in the day.
Wilson is too good for the Championship. He bagged 15 goals at this level for Derby two years ago but is a better player again today for the experience.
So how will he fit in football-wise at Cardiff?
Harris can choose a front four of Wilson, Lee Tomlin, Kieffer Moore and any one of Josh Murphy, Sheyi Ojo or Junior Hoilett. There won’t be many better forward lines outside of the Premier League than that one.
Cardiff have stuttered under Harris this season, displaying a woeful lack of creativity, and it is up to the manager to get the best out of the stellar talent available to him and get the team soaring up that table.
Wilson can play wide, he can play 10 in place of Tomlin if necessary. He can score goals, is a brilliant free-kick taker and can just galvanise the whole team with his craft. With Tomlin and Wilson around him, Moore might finally start getting the service he needs to score the goals he is more than capable of.
And it’s a win-win situation for Wilson as well. He’ll know shining with Cardiff City will put him at the forefront of the news agenda in Welsh sport.
As things stand, heading into next year’s Euros, it’s probably fair to say Wilson is a little down the pecking order for Ryan Giggs’ first-choice Wales XI. On the basis Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Kieffer Moore play, there is then a battle between Dan James, David Brooks and Wilson for the other forward spot.
James and Brooks have the edge at the moment, but Giggs thinks highly of Wilson.