3/1 To Win
After securing the signing of Chelsea’s Mason Mount, Derby County moved to add more young attacking talent to their squad with the capture of Liverpool forward Harry Wilson.
The 21-year-old caught the eye during his loan spell at Hull City during the second-half of last season, and now Wilson is set to spend the 2018/19 campaign with the Rams.
So, how did Wilson get to this point? Here, dcfc.co.uk takes an in-depth look at his career so far…
Background…
Born in Wrexham, Wales, Wilson joined the Liverpool Academy as a nine-year-old in 2005 before progressing through the ranks.
During the 2012/13 and 2013/14 campaigns, Wilson featured regularly for the Under-18s, and he began to impress at a series of youth tournaments.
In 2014, Wilson and Liverpool teammate Sheyi Ojo were joint-top goalscorers at the Future Cup - an Under-17 competition hosted by Ajax.
Later that year, the forward impressed in the UEFA Youth League as Liverpool reached the knock-out stages, with the key moment coming when he bagged a late winner against Real Madrid.
At the Otten Cup - hosted by PSV Eindhoven - in 2015, Wilson was named as the best forward of the tournament.
Astonishingly, whilst Wilson was making his way through the age-groups, he was already being considered for an international debut.
Welsh History-Maker
After impressing Chris Coleman with his performances at Under-16 and Under-17 level for Wales, Wilson was called up to the senior side for the first time as a 16-year-old in October 2013.
When he replaced Hal Robson-Kanu against Belgium, he became the youngest player in the history of the Welsh national team, exceeding the record held by Gareth Bale.
With that appearance, Wilson also became Liverpool’s youngest ever international, even before he had made his senior debut for the Anfield club.
Famously, Wilson’s grandfather, Peter won £125,000 following the game, as he had placed a bet on his grandson to play international football for Wales when he was just 18 months old.
Championship Success
Wilson joined Hull on loan in January 2018 as the club struggled in the bottom half of the table after a poor start to the campaign under Leonid Slutsky.
Nigel Adkins was brought in prior to Wilson’s arrival to get things back on track, and the forward certainly played his role as the Tigers pulled themselves away from the drop zone.
Wilson was directly involved in 10 goals in just 11 starts for Adkins’ side, and his form was impressive enough to earn him a recall to the Wales squad by Ryan Giggs.
On his 21st birthday, Wilson scored his first international goal against China in a 6-0 victory.
