Rotherham United struck gold with low-key 2016 transfer deal - He made them millions | OneFootball

The deal ended up making millions for the Millers.

Rotherham United struck gold with their 2016 signing of Will Vaulks.

The midfielder was a fairly low-key signing for the Millers at the time, joining from Scottish side Falkirk for an undisclosed fee.

Vaulks became a star at Rotherham and earned himself a big move to Cardiff City in the summer of 2019. The Bluebirds had just been relegated from the Premier League and made the South Yorkshire outfit in excess of £3million.

They flipped a handsome profit on Vaulks and got promoted straight back to the Championship at the end of the season, making it the perfect piece of business for Rotherham.

Will Vaulks became a star at Rotherham

At the time of Vaulks’ spell with Rotherham, Paul Warne’s side were regularly bouncing back and forth between League One and the Championship.

After an impressive few seasons with Falkirk in the Scottish Championship, Vaulks moved south of the border in 2016. Rotherham paid a fee for his services, and it turned out to be a fantastic deal for the Millers.

Just 22 when he moved to Yorkshire, Vaulks’ new club were relegated to the third tier during his first season at the club, but he really caught the eye over the course of the next two years.

The midfielder notched five league goals and four assists as Warne’s men bounced straight back to the second division in 2017/18, earning promotion with victory over Shrewsbury Town under the Wembley arch.

Vaulks’ performances that season earned him the club’s Player of the Year award, but he took his form to another level in the following campaign.

The Welshman netted seven league goals and also made seven assists in the Championship in 2018/19, and although Rotherham were relegated again, Vaulks’ season really saw him catch the eye further beyond the New York Stadium.

His form towards the end of the campaign earned him a first-ever senior international call-up, and he made his debut in the friendly against Trinidad and Tobago in March 2019.

That summer, he secured a move to Cardiff in what was a club-record sale for Rotherham. The Bluebirds were fresh off the back of relegation from the Premier League and, although Rotherham had also fallen to a similar fate, the Millers were able to use the fee they received (believed to be in excess of £3 million) to rebuild and return to the Championship at the first attempt.

Overall, the signing of Vaulks proved to be virtually the perfect deal for an EFL club, bringing success while he was at the club, but also helping them to net a healthy profit.

Will Vaulks’ move to Cardiff City never really worked out

Big things were expected of Vaulks after he left Rotherham, but he was never really able to replicate his Millers form in the Welsh capital.

Across his three years with the Bluebirds, the club finished fifth, eighth and then 18th as they failed to secure that all-important quick return to the Premier League.

The midfielder’s best return in front of goal came in 2020/21, when he ended the season with five goals and two assists, but having performed so well in a struggling side in his final year at Rotherham, it’s fair to say that more was perhaps expected.

After his deal with Cardiff expired in 2022, Vaulks dropped a division to join Sheffield Wednesday in League One.

He played a slightly deeper midfield role over the course of his two years with the Owls. He helped Wednesday to promotion through the play-offs in his first season at Hillsborough, before playing a key role as they consolidated their spot in the Championship last time out.

Last summer, he moved to newly promoted Oxford United and having missed just one of their 37 league games so far, Vaulks looks set to play a crucial part in their ongoing survival fight.

However, he has never really been able to kick on at international level. He currently has just seven caps to show for his efforts.

For Rotherham, they perhaps would have expected Vaulks to have achieved more after departing the club, but from their point of view, it was certainly a transfer that ticked all the right boxes.