Derby County: Frank Lampard predicted Liverpool recruit would bring "incredible quality" - he was right | OneFootball

Frank Lampard made big predictions after signing Harry Wilson for Derby County, and the Liverpool loan star proved him so very right

Frank Lampard's single season in charge of Derby County during the 2018/19 campaign wasn't without flaw as the former Chelsea and England international star endured a mixed relationship with the Pride Park faithful, but few can deny he nailed it with his welcoming verdict on Harry Wilson.

The Rams made it all the way to the Championship play-off final under Lampard, who himself was in his first senior managerial role at the time.

Prior to his appointment, Derby had not taken to Wembley in the previous four years and they have since spent time in League One before returning to the Championship - though not to such heights - which, on the face of it at least, reflects rather well on Lampard, one could argue.

What was not as positively endorsing, however, was his decision to leave Martyn Waghorn and the in-form Jack Marriott on the bench in favour of Mason Bennett for Derby's play-off final showpiece against Aston Villa, which they lost in agonising fashion.

The nature of that result with such high stakes, coupled with Lampard's subsequent departure to Chelsea and the nagging feeling among certain supporters that Rams really should have gone all the way with a squad which featured the likes of Wilson, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, means the now-Coventry City head coach isn't as fondly remembered in Derbyshire as could be assumed from the outside looking in.

Whether Lampard's time with Derby was really a failure is open to debate, but there's less argument to be had about the success enjoyed that year by Wilson - whom the 46-year-old lauded to no end upon arrival.

Frank Lampard said Harry Wilson would bring "incredible quality" following Liverpool, Derby County agreement

The arrival of Wilson on loan from Liverpool in the summer of 2018 was hotly-anticipated, and excitement was only further fueled by Lampard's introductory praise.

Wilson, who was aged 21 at the time of his signing, had exploded into life months prior with Hull City, having spent the second-half of the 2017/18 campaign on loan with the Tigers.

The playmaker scored seven goals and made a further three assists from only 13 Championship appearances in East Yorkshire, creating palpable excitement about just what could be conjured up in a full campaign at Derby.

Lampard predicted Wilson would bring "incredible quality" - and it's hard to say he was far wrong with that call.

He told the club's official website: "Harry brings incredible quality and hunger to the table here and he showed that last year while he was on loan at Hull. He’s a full international too and he has a real desire to come here and improve.

"He’s going to be a crucial player for us. I keep talking about creativity and the importance of trying to excite the fans and he’s the sort of player that can do that with the quality that he has.

"For himself too, to have a year at this level and feel an important player at an important club, that will be important.

"Hopefully it’s a great platform for him, but on a selfish note, we have got ourselves a real quality player."

Frank Lampard's Harry Wilson, Derby County prediction was spot on

Wilson vindicated exactly what Lampard predicted - and then some.

He was a class act virtually all season long at Derby, providing the creativity and perhaps even more goalscoring prowess than the Stamford Bridge icon had expected to inspire the Rams to within 90 minutes of promotion to the top-flight.

Primarily playing wide-right, Wilson scored 18 goals and provided six assists across all competitions, with all but two of his strikes coming in Championship action.

Impressively, five of those were free-kicks as he began to build his reputation as one of the country's most revered set-piece specialists, and the pick of the bunch was a sensational effort in Derby's famous EFL Cup victory away to Manchester United.

Wilson was a joy to watch that year for Derby, and stepped up as the side's leading goalscorer and creative kingpin-in-chief.

Lampard fell short of getting everything right for County, of course, but he was bang on the money with Wilson and, if anything, the career he's since enjoyed just further vindicates that praise.

The Welshman was Bournemouth's joint-top scorer the season after as they were relegated from the Premier League and he then shone on loan at an inconsistent Cardiff City side in 2020/21 before leaving Liverpool permanently to join Fulham, where he's been strutting his stuff ever since.

Wilson was inspired as Fulham gained promotion to the Premier League as champions in 2022, scoring ten times and making a whopping 19 assists.

A frequent starting berth has been somewhat more difficult to come by at top-flight level, particularly so this time around given Marco Silva has a wealth of wide attacking options to call upon such as Adama Traore, Reiss Nelson and Alex Iwobi, but he has still managed to add to his tally from very limited minutes, having chalked up 10 goal contributions from just 1,614 minutes last year.

What's more, Wilson is now a seasoned international star with 60 caps and counting for Wales. The winger has truly stepped up to the mantle following the retirement of talismanic hero Gareth Bale and has been his nation's outstanding player over the last year or so - but it was at Derby and under Lampard where his career really took off.