Aston Villa poach Derby hotshot Omari Kellyman in £600k transfer as Wayne Rooney’s side sell latest starlet to pay wages
WAYNE ROONEY’S Derby County are picking up a bitter-sweet £600,000 cheque from Aston Villa for young Northern Ireland striker Omari Kellyman.
The Rams administrators have accepted the offer from the Premier League club for Derby’s top young talent.
The deal can be done now as Kellyman, 16, is a youth player and not subject to the senior transfer windows.
Kellyman is rated highly and goes straight into Villa’s crack academy set-up.
He will not hope to earn a first-team shot under Rooney’s old England team-mate Steven Gerrard.
But the deal leaves Derby without a major asset as they seek a buyer.
The Rams have already lost striker Luke Plange to Crystal Palace on deadline day, although the 20-year-old was loaned straight back for the rest of the season.
Promising left back Dylan Williams also departed in the January transfer window as he joined European Champions Chelsea.
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The total for the talented teens is a stunning £2million.
The cash goes towards paying the wages with funds low after Mel Morris put the club into administration.
However the overall value of the club has been hit in a painful reminder of how bad things have become at the Championship outfit.
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