Biggest issus with Knight is they don't know how to effectively use him but can't afford to not have the intensity he brings to the game so just stick him anywhere. Think LB and CB are the only two outfield positions he hasn't played yet for Derby.
He sets up a few in. Had 4 assists I think, Needs a move ASAP. right back, my aunt!!!
Biggest issus with Knight is they don't know how to effectively use him but can't afford to not have the intensity he brings to the game so just stick him anywhere. Think LB and CB are the only two outfield positions he hasn't played yet for Derby.
Collins and Bazunu are potentially generational players though, we may not produce anyone else of that standard in the next 10 years so it's probably not fair to judge every other player by their standards. They may well both go on and become established players for top 6 teams, but that doesn't mean others won't go on and also have very successful careers, though maybe at a slightly lower level.
Knight for me looks as good as anyone I have seen in our youth setup in the last five years, outside of those two. I'd be fairly confident that he will become an established player at Premier League or and equivalent league in Europe within the next two or three years. So it is a bit of a surprise that there hasn't yet been a team wiling to throw a few million at Derby to take him on.
When you factor in that he qualifies as a home grown player and also that he is at an age where he doesn't need to be included in a 25 man squad for the coming season, he would basically be almost a free hit for any EPL team outside of the top seven or eight teams. Hopefully he gets something sorted by the end of the month - I do have a nagging fear that Celtic might see him as worth a cheap punt towards the end of the transfer window.
I think if you were him at this stage you might just hang on and move on a free next summer. No harm playing right back for a bit to improve his defensive awareness and develop his attacking ability.
Nothing earth shattering in here but it does reveal that Burnley have expressed an interest (and that Derby are valuing Knight really highly). Would be nice to see him link up with the Burnley Irish - Cullen, Costelloe, McNally and Long.
https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/jason-knight-birmingham-derby-transfer-7423083
(I have absolutely no idea why I can’t seem to post hyperlinks on here anymore!! Sorry!)
Burnley signed an attacking midfielder during the week, so that might limit their interest in Knight now, though they are doing a full squad rebuild so you'd never know.
It's a shame Knight's contract had the year still on it or he could have just walked away like many others. Derby haven't shown themselves to be particularly loyal to their players in the past, so it might be getting towards the point where he needs to play a bit of hardball and try to force a move, even if he loses the support of their fans as a result. He doesn't owe them anything at this stage.
Yeah Derby have the safety net of being entitled to compensation and probably decent compensation for Knight if he joins another English club given his experience for club and country. They can afford to play hard ball with the valuation this early in the season. Might see him move in January when he can sign a pre contract for teams outside England and move for a couple of million.
Derby manager Liam Rosenior stresses that he wants Knight to stay, acknowledges the media speculation about his future but says there have been no offers for him. (Football League World, 5 August).
Yet another man of the match display today apparently, scored a wonderful header too with McGoldrick scoring a late winner. Derby have rebounded nicely in league one and will likely go from strength to strength. No word of solid outside interest, seems like Knight is destined for a year of league one with a free transfer next summer
Likely see him move in January. Derby will get decent compensation next summer if he joins an English club but they won't want to risk losing him for little to nothing if he signs a pre contract with a team abroad.
Paper talk has said before there's interest in Germany and could see some teams there approaching him in January when he's free to talk with clubs. At that stage Derby will likely act lower sums from teams in England to get a couple of million.
The talk of his impending transfer has now transcended seasons and windows. Maybe it's our green tints, maybe he's not that good. If he's worth say, £5m-£7m, that's small pickings for a promoted or yo/yo Championship club. I'm not trying to talk Knight down, but if he has the required quality surely the financial hurdle facing admirers is relatively small despite a contract running down. Yet, notwithstanding Derby's precarious situation, he's still there . . . playing in League One.
I wouldn't consider myself as being prone to over-hyping our younger players, I probably lean more the other way on most of them until they prove otherwise in senior football (as Bazunu and Collins have done for instance). But I'm absolutely sold on Knight, I think he's a great player.
Hard working on the field, great attitude off it by all accounts and he also seems to have a bit of creative talent about him that we've seen a few times playing for us that just sets him apart from your average central midfielder.
He hasn't had the breaks in his club career - after a breakthrough first season as a teenager things went badly wrong off the field at Derby and he has been caught up in all that. It was bad enough last season when they used him as a workhorse centre mid that meant he couldn't really show his creative side at club level - not to mention Rooney taking him out for two months in training - but sticking him at right back is just another level. Again it shows his versatility that he can play the position so well, but all this means that he's not able to show his best at club level, which then impacts on his transfer value - Derby know what he's worth but other clubs' scouts don't really get to see it so nobody ends up meeting his valuation.
He also seems like a very loyal type - not one to throw the toys out of the pram and demand a transfer. Derby are happy to take advantage of this of course even though they've shown no loyalty to others themselves in the past. This counts against him a bit at the moment also. My biggest fear is that he might actually sign a new contract at Derby, it would be absolutely the wrong thing to do but you couldn't rule it out at this point.
I don't think he's a player that will necessarily go on and play for a top six side in England - he's probably not at that level and there are loads of other good midfielders out there competing with him - but I honestly think he wouldn't look remotely out of place at about 10 or 12 Premier League teams this season. The trend at the moment there though is to spend 25 million on a player from an overseas league, not a small fraction of that on someone playing in League 1. So he'll probably have to go somewhere else first before he can make the step up to the level I think he should actually be playing at.
Nice read. I agree with much of what you say about his ability, character, attitude and loyalty. But not all. Unless there are circumstances of which I'm unaware, EPL and potential EPL clubs seem underwhelmed by what he has to offer despite the relatively low fee to sign him. It was something similar with Josh Cullen. Yes, there is crazy money being thrown about - but it would be nudging naivety to believe there are no shrewd talent spotters still out there. If he's good enough, surely he'll be picked up.
If anyone watched Bournemouth yesterday they need jason! ( and another 8 players!)
Six goals in the equivalent of 20 league games minutes wise in his debut season at 18 under Cocu. Then things went to **** at Derby big time behind the seasons. Always said the biggest issue under Rooney was it looked as if he didn't know how to get the best out of Knight but because of his athleticism he'd play him here there and everywhere because he's "workhorse" and let Knight run himself into the ground.
When you see someone like West Ham spending £12m on Flynn Downes, someone whose bang average and played less minutes in the championship while being two years older than Knight you shake your head. Often scuffed at the if he was English he'd get a move but if Knight was English he'd have moved on already. Even if his best season for Derby was his first season.
Similar with Nathan Collins who only had Burnley come in for him even though Fletcher was telling United 12 months before it this kid is gonna be top class get him.
This often touted suggestion of bias against Irish players is nonsense. It's just another variant of green-tint syndrome. If clubs believe there's talent there and are satisfied on character, ambition and dedication they'll do business - whether it's for instant impact or future sell-on. I don't accept for a second Nathan Collins was bypassed or whatever because he's Irish.
But do you think that certain English players get bought because they’re English? Like would Antony Gordon be going to Chelsea if he wasn’t English? So if a pro-English bias exists, it’s easy to infer an anti irish bias when you compare, for example Flynn Downes and Jason Knight (I haven’t seen much of Flynn at all but just it was the example given above).
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