Not that surprised if it is true, hasn't overly impressed here. If he leaves and we get at least one new CB I'm all for it.
A shame that a local(ish) lad couldn't break through into the team but if Xisco doesn't like you, you really must be struggling. I suspect after Ben's social media grumpiness towards the end of the season this is a mutually agreed move.
At least we won't have to listen to lots of Watford fans talk about him as a good midfield option anymore.
Didn't look good enough in Championship so seemed very unlikely to play next season. Hope he does well at Stoke
Depending on the fee, think we’ll regret this one. Was good under Ivic, and was progressing nicely until Xisco came in. Would have him over Kabasele/Cathcart. But good luck to him
Good luck Ben, hopefully you won't come back to bite us, but all the best for the rest of your career.
Disappointed by this but he never seemed to have that breakthrough for us and always looked easy to drop rather than cementing his place. Clearly was not going to get a huge amount of game time in the PL and the club have to top up the coffers where they can I suspect. I really hope we have been sensible enough to put a sell-on clause in there mind you. And it’s now imperative we get another first team level CB. Don’t fancy Cathcart and Kabasele much at this level either really - sure they have been here before but they didn’t stand out last time around and have 12 months of football behind them where they didn’t really play to boot.
From the eye test I thought he was better than Kabasele and about on par with Troost-Ekong. Kinda thought defensively he was slightly more susceptible but was still improving, while his progressive passing was beyond what anyone else we have can do. Think I then saw some graphics from LouOrns that proved what a good passer he was but actually suggested he was better defensively than T-E etc as well. Wanted to see him get more of a chance last season but Xisco clearly wasn’t convinced and it seems pointless keeping him to sit in the stands. I think right now we can rightly argue that no young players (barring Pedro) have made the first team here for years because none were good enough. We’ll see over the next year or two as Wilmot develops if that remains true. I think he’ll be in the PL in 2 years.
Harsh to say he wasn't good enough at Championship level, he was fine for us, if not as good as our more experienced options. Swansea was a similar story, did well when he played, but was up against some of the best defenders in the division. He's 21 and is already a good Championship option, he'll play loads at Stoke (especially as they're selling a defender to Burnley), I think we're going to regret freezing him out and selling him rather than loaning him
He looked a good championship defender, but nothing yet to suggest he is ready for the PL. He doesn't really seem to have kicked on that much over the last 2 years but he is still very young for a centre back and I did have high hopes. Wouldn't shock me if he was playing in the PL in 2-3 years time.
WTE didn't massively impress, very shaky with the ball at his feet and merely decent defensively, and while Wilmot was a bit suspect in the air, so was WTE really. What we did seem to get from WTE which we probably wouldn't have got from young Wilmot was leadership though, but I think he was definitely worth persisting with, even if it meant another loan
The lad may not want to go out on loan though and I wouldn’t blame him. Could end up in the exact same situation in 12 months time. He probably knows the manager doesn’t rate him and wants to make a fresh start.
I agree, WTE was okay. Wilmot was okay as well but properly good in some ways and with time on his side. We might be selling our 2nd best CB. But we all know the manager won’t last 12 months so why not roll the dice!
Yeah, and we could have loaned him out to the Championship, seen him absolutely shine, got relegated, and get to summer 22 with him not wanting to play in the Championship again. It's a shame, because it all seems a bit unnecessary, I get Sierralta and WTE were first choice, and that's fine, but the way a very talented youngster in Wilmot was almost totally frozen out leaves a bitter taste, it's not like he was miles behind everyone else!
Not even turning a profit on him, mental considering he'd only played 10 games for Stevenage before signing and is now nearing 50 Champ appearances.
Thought he played with a bit of heart and a fair bit of talent. He may not yet be quite up to Premier level. Not impossible he will improve and good luck to the lad.
Stoke haven't got a pot to piss in, although they're selling Collins for decent money. £1.5m suggests a total breakdown between player and club and we've just got a deal done quickly.
That’s cheap. Do not think good enough for Prem but still an international and would have thought more that £1.5m feel a bit for him as has not done anything really wrong
I agree. Although I’d stop well short of saying ‘very talented’. I think he’s nothing more than ‘average with potential’ currently. Pretty much just an older version of what we bought initially and I don’t really see that he’s kicked on that’s much. I have no doubt that he can become a player of note however - but last season made me increasingly sure that it wouldn’t be with us. I think he may well suit a Stoke and then later a Burnley - teams who put emphasis on defence a bit more than we do. £1.5m (if true) is pathetic and laughable though. And it’s yet another bullet hole in Duxbury’s words on FTRE. Colour me shocked.
Very surprised there weren't more clubs lining up if he was available for £1.5m. Still had 2 years on his deal, right?
