Oliver Wilkinson

I went to an U23’s game last season & nearly everyone there were scouts. There were some in front of me & some sat across the gangway from them & they were all talking about Wilkinson. One of them said he had set off at 7am to get there.

There were far more scouts than fans there that day & this was early in the season (I think) before he played in the first team so there’s no doubt there’s been lots of interest in him for a long time.

 

What 20% sell on fee? He'll be leaving for a compo fee, not a transfer with a sell on clause

 

This is the problem now with the Academy structure. The Premier League clubs hoover up all the talent they can at a young age. Smaller clubs struggle to find young local lads. When they do have a possible gem, the Premier League clubs come calling again.

So our academy becomes more reliant on those released from other academies.

I don't blame him or the club. It's just another sad indictment on this thing called football that used to be about sport.

 

The academy compensation system was agreed as part of a funding deal I believe.

All clubs get a little of cash in in return for this system which allows big clubs to cherry pick the best talent

 

The only real way to keep the youth talent is for Barnsley as a club to mean something special to them. A shame to see Wilkinson leave rather than stay with the club and realise a childhood dream.

 

My understanding is that the tribunal ascribes what would have been a reasonable transfer fee for a player of that standard, and that this often includes things we get in normal transfer agreements such as instalments, performance or achievement based incentives, and sell on clauses.

 

You're all talking about a 16 year old kid...

Plenty of 'be kind' Andy's Man Club type folk should remember that.

 

Or could it be a case of, both him and his parents have seen how others that have either attended or have come all the way through the academy have been treat by the club.
Therefore they have taken action now rather than later before it's too late.
We are not privy to the inner politics that take place behind the scenes.

 

A reason to be pleased (and grateful) that Fabio Jalo chose to stay and extend his contract as he could almost certainly have done the same thing. I hope that this season he can stay fit and have a run in the team and start to realise his huge potential.

 

Can't blame him one bit, get your best deal while your stock is high.
Look after yourself ,the football clubs look after themselves too.

 

Exactly.

The clubs signed up to the EPPP deal. Which pays for much of the academy. You can’t then complain if a lad who is rated one of the best at his age in the country has huge clubs willing to take him.

 

Aye, back to L1, but with a couple of million banked. Or he might just make it and be playing PL. Either way, it's a big decision, I'd not hold it against anyone that decides to follow the money, a PL 5 year contract will earn him enough money to make his entire life comfortable if he looks after it. You never know what is around the corner, even without injury he could stay with us and earn 50k a year, and still not progress as he expects, and be playing non-league by the time he hits 23, and be skint with it.

 

Well… I’ve been told some stuff about it which I trust, and I’d say it sounds like it very much is down to the amateur nature of the club now that he’s left. Not the coaches, but other behind the scenes stuff, broken promises, lack of professionalism within the club.

Not just a simple case of someone has offered him riches elsewhere, whether he does end up at Chelsea or similar.

But he obviously thinks his development will be better served elsewhere, and I doubt he/his advisors are wrong.

 

Disappointing news but I wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do. It's his career and I can understand the lure of a bigger club.

Young players develop at different rates and as a club we still have a responsibility to provide that opportunity to local lads.

 

My understanding is that EFL clubs were virtually blackmailed into accepting the awful deal, by the PL stating they’d withdraw solidarity payments if they didn’t.

 

No way we have never been ran better - I don’t believe it

 

People are calling out a sixteen year old. If that was your son you would advise him to get the hell out of here and go where ever the money is. Good luck to him hope he makes it.

 

This is another example of the power the big clubs have. Either we agree to let their U21s into the EFL Trophy or they won’t give us any money. Either we agree to allow our youth players to be poached for bugger all or they won’t give us any money, etc, etc.

You certainly can’t blame the lad for seizing the opportunity. Every footballer is one bad injury away from working in a warehouse. Nevertheless, it’s disappointing and just shows that it’s unlikely a club of our size will ever bring a player through like McCarthy or Banks again, who play 200-300 games for us before moving onto bigger and better things. By the time we got to Stones and Holgate it was down to about 25 games and now they get nicked when they are still of school age.

Hope it all works out for him though, as it would still be good to see someone from our academy system making it to the top. You do have to worry about young players’ chances in the Premier League, however. In the past month Premier League clubs have signed 29 players. Not one British player amongst them. A couple were foreign players transferred between Premier League clubs, but most were brought in from overseas. Not only does this make it more difficult for young English players to break through into their first teams, it is also a great chunk of money that leaves the English league system every time, with vast amounts going to the player, their (probably foreign) agent and the foreign club. Trickle down economics being as realistic in English football as it is in real life. Gone are the days when Liverpool’s first team featured signings from Blackpool, Scunthorpe, Northampton, Preston and Chester. Lower league clubs rely on bringing players through and selling them for decent transfer fees. The money we’ll get for Wilkinson probably won’t even break even with the amount we’ve spent on his development so far.

 

How can anyone blame a young lad wanting to better himself and in the process ensure his financial future? He’s captained England at u16 and played professionally already. His ambitions will be beyond a third tier team under financial stress.

Football has changed massively over the last 20 years. BFC can’t compete with the biggest clubs, that’s always been the case, but the gap has widened considerably.

I’d wish him all the best and hope he’s a success. How many of us would turn down an opportunity like this?

 

I agree in general.

But what I can't abide is the failure to return to training bit. Be professional. Do your job. If you then move, good luck to you.