Wilson returned from his brief stint in Cheshire a far more complete player and his output was vastly better with the new and improved Premier League 2 feeling the full brunt of his new-found goalscoring confidence. The 16/17 saw Wilson score 12 and assist 7, averaging nearly a goal or assist every game, catching the eye of Liverpool fans and opposition coaches alike. Wilson was arguably the best player in the league that season and rightly so, his technique in front of goal and general play set him apart from his peers and his maturity on the pitch shone through. Wilson’s national breakout came during the 17/18 season and saw Wilson add to his tally with 10 goals and 3 assists in 12 games for the U23s before a big loan move to Hull City gave Wilson to prove his ability in England’s top flight. His January loan move to the Yorkshire club again gave the Welshman more attention with him scoring 7 goals and 4 assists in his 13 appearances and winning him the adoration from the Hull City faithful. By the end of Wilson’s loan move Liverpool fans were so eager to see him around the first-team that Twitter was awash with fans begging for him to be given a place in and around the first team for the 18/19 season. Despite the pressure from seemingly all parts of the fanbase, Klopp and Inglethrope decided that Wilson needed a full season of professional football in order to truly stake a claim for first team consideration and whilst some saw this as the end of the world back in July, they clearly knew what they were doing with Wilson setting the Championship alight this season with his 22 appearances so far yielding 10 goals and 2 assists. Such performances have made him a sort of cult figure in Derby and you can see why, Frank Lampard’s men are flying high near the top of the division and Wilson has played a crucial part in them being in the play-off positions. If Derby are to get promoted to the Premier League, Wilson will undoubtedly have to carry on performing at the top level and help continue their push for promotion. 
One man very impressed with how well Wilson has adapted to regular senior football is Academy direct Alex Inglethorpe who told the Liverpool Echo: “He’s shown he can cope with the physicality and the demands of senior football. He’s only going to become stronger and better at adapting to situations.” Despite still very much being an academy prospect at the time, Harry Wilson first grabbed headlines when he made his national debut for Wales aged just 16 – he was an unused substitute against Macedonia before coming on for Robson-Kanu against Belgium 4 days later. Since then Wilson has gone strength to strength but had to wait until 2018 for his next cap, but since then he has made a further 7 appearances and even bagged himself 2 goals – he netted against China in the 2018 China Cup and then the winning goal during Wales’ 1-0 win against Ireland in the Nations League. Having solidified his place in the Wales squad, I’m sure we’ll see Wilson emerge as one of Wales’ key men now that Ryan Giggs is in charge. It’ll be near impossible for the lad to dislodge one of our forwards but there is an option for him to be deployed in a similar way to how Shaqiri has this season. We could see Wilson being deployed a little deeper and being used as the link from midfield and attack, and then for covering the wingers when we have the opportunity to rotate. The player many believe that Wilson will be replaces, if he does make the step up, is Adam Lallana, one of our most polarising players during recent seasons. Lallana has clearly struggled for fitness and form during the last few years and whilst he can still be an excellent player on his day, those days are few and far between and he will 31 years old by the time the season is over. Statistically there isn’t a huge amount to separate Wilson’s from this season and that of Lallana during the 15/16 season, arguably his best stint during his time at Liverpool. It’s worth bearing in mind that both of the players do play different positions and whilst Wilson is a far more accomplished goal scorer, you need to almost imagine how Wilson would do if he was playing a little deeper. Both plays are similar when it comes to beating their man with Lallana winning 46% of his duels during the 15/16 season whilst Wilson is winning 49% of his duels this season. 
One of the things Wilson truly excels at is drawing fouls from the opposition, with his quick movement and small frame leading to him being fouled on average 2.4 times per league match this season, a huge 1.4 times more than Lallana averaged. Lallana is the more accomplished passer and dribbler though, with him outshining the younger by some way, but that isn’t a slight on Wilson but a massive compliment as to how technically excellent Lallana was during his prime years. Whilst their goal contributions aren’t completely comparable, Lallana is known to be comfortable on the wing and Klopp doesn’t shy away from using him there. During the seasons we are comparing, Lallana scored 4 and assisted 6 during 30 league appearances whilst Wilson has scored 10 and assisted 2 during his 22 appearances so far in the league. Wilson looks to be a very solid squad option for Liverpool next season and he certainly wouldn’t be a downgrade from any of the bench options that we currently have this season. I can see Wilson being in and around the squad and maybe even having a Shaqiri-esque impact, albeit probably less explosive. The brilliant thing about the position Liverpool are in is that even if they choose to sell him, they will likely be able to command a fee of around £20m and then reinvest that sum into bringing somebody else in. Do you think Harry Wilson has what it takes to make it at Liverpool? Let me know in the comments. Article by James McHale @jamesmchale260716+ PODCASTS P/MONTH
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