There’s been a bit in the news today about Freddie heading back to Walsall, and as it seems to be from a credible source, I felt I ought to offer an opinion on the situation.
The news has come from Ben Jacobs, who is a senior correspondent for Give Me Sport. He has more than 373,000 followers, so it’s not just some random account putting stuff out. It feels as if it might have some serious legs.
Understand Freddie Draper is set to join Walsall from Lincoln City. Clubs close to an agreement for the highly-regarded 20-year-old striker. Draper was on-loan at Walsall for the first half of last season, scoring 10 times.🎯 pic.twitter.com/x39RjyCrmG
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) January 15, 2025
There’s no indication whether we’re talking about a loan or permanent here, so that’s really the first thing for me to discuss. Which is likely?
Freddie Draper to Move On Loan
The obvious shout would be a move on loan. Freddie has always been highly rated at City; Michael Appleton loved him, Mark Kennedy didn’t, and Skubala has given him a lot of chances. I felt he would be the second choice behind Ben House this season, but it hasn’t turned out that way. He’s a bustling striker who can hold the ball up well, but his physical attributes have taken over from his finishing attributes. Under Appleton, Draper was seen as a natural finisher, but now it feels he’s more like a young Matt Rhead.
He thrived at Walsall, so a loan move would appear sensible. It would give him a chance to accrue value and even if he didn’t have a future with us, we could get him on the open market in the summer. Walsall are a big club and they may even be looking at picking him up when (and it is when) they’re promoted at the end of the season.
A loan would be the obvious choice, but there’s a question around that – what if we think it is just time to cash in? After all, the Imps’ forward line has been a bit ineffective in recent weeks (some will call that an understatement), so what if we’ve decided to get him sold?
Freddie Draper to Move Permanently
Here’s the question – what valuation are we putting on Draper? 20-year-old striker, prolific in League Two last season, a regular from the bench in League One. 21-year-old Josh Stones has just moved from Wigan to York City for £350,000 and that would surely be the benchmark. There would be add-ons as well, a chunky sell-on fee and doubtless promotion bonuses as well. Would we be happy with something that could rise to £500,000? Would Walsall be able to pay that?
I do wonder if a permanent deal might be done. We have a lot of young forwards, and playing them all together puts pressure on them. However, if we had someone a little more experienced alongside Jovon, for instance, developing our young talent might be easier. It would be a big call to sell Draper permanently, but it might also give us a war chest for the next couple of weeks.
Conclusion
This feels like a move is going to happen. We do need to restructure the front line, and while I didn’t see a move for Draper, perhaps the club have finally decided to make significant changes. It could be a case of needs must – we have a target, we need to free up some budget.
What I will say is I am a big Draper fan. I like a robust forward, and I think he still has that natural ability to finish. What our young forwards need is a role model, someone to come in who has been there, done that, and teach them some of the tricks of the trade. Our movement in the box is sometimes lacking – there was a ball across on Tuesday night begging to be hit, but nobody had anticipated it. Draper could benefit from having someone older with a record for scoring (or at least getting in positions to miss) to help him understand the game.
However, it might be a luxury that time will now not afford him.
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