Martyn Waghorn has revealed how the chance to play under Frank Lampard proved too good to resist as he opened up on his move to Derby County – but admitted Middlesbrough fans didn’t like it.
Waghorn joined Derby in 2018 for an undisclosed fee at a time when his stock was high following a successful spell with Ipswich.
Sheffield United and Middlesbrough were also keen on his signature and the latter had high hopes of securing a deal for the striker who later returned for a second spell at Pride Park where he won promotion from League One.
But the lure of playing for Lampard who was in charge at Derby at the time was difficult to resist as the club would later challenge for a return to the Premier League only to fall short in the play-off final at Wembley in 2019.
There were repercussions, however, as he admitted he got “stick” from Middlesbrough fans for a few years afterwards.
Waghorn, who recently called time on his career, told the Sunderland Echo: “I had my year at Ipswich, and it was before I was signing for Derby.
“I spoke to Tony Pulis at the time. Everything was kind of agreed, really, and then Derby were in as well. So, I believe it was Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and Derby were kind of all in and around it, and then I just chose Derby at the end of the day.
“That’s how simple it was. It was like, take your pick, and obviously, the lure of Lampard, to be honest, was massive, and playing, seeing this team, the project that was going on, and, yeah, I wanted to be a part of that team.
“The move to Middlesbrough was very close. I believe everything was agreed. I just had to make a decision within a split instance because the time was running out as well.
“Living in moments and you’ve got to choose one, haven’t you? And that’s just the way it went. I feel like over the last few years I got a lot of stick from Boro fans regarding that and I don’t know where that kind of materialised from. I don’t know what was going on behind the scenes or whatever, but I got a lot of abuse going back there for choosing Derby over them.
“I don’t know how it’s come from that. It’s just there was a player link with the club and I chose to go to a different one. It’s probably obviously the way it went, but I think there’s a lot to do with the play-offs and how it finished at the end of the year and they missed out and we got in. So, I think there’s a lot of needle going on, obviously, with stuff behind the scenes that I’m unaware of. I got abuse for a few years with that.”
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