Cameron Jerome has revealed that Sheffield United tried to sign him last summer.
The striker, who was at Derby County at the time, also had offers from Nottingham Forest and West Bromwich Albion.
However, Rams manager Frank Lampard blocked Jerome’s exit because he was part of his plans. Then Lampard made a u-turn on his decision, but didn’t want to let the 32-year-old join a Championship rival.
In came Turkish side Goztepe and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I was looking forward to working with Lampard,” Jerome told the Sun.
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“But he changed his mind on me, it was a bit of a surprise, but no hard feelings at all.
“They wouldn’t let me go to a rival and I was stuck there with a year left on my contract.
“I couldn’t go to Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United or West Brom and then they asked if I would move to certain clubs.
“Those moves were not going to benefit me and I felt should be at Derby competing for a place.
“My agent Eric Walters told me there was an opportunity in Turkey – I’ve always wanted to play abroad and at my age the chance might not come again.”
(Photo by Ashley Allen/Getty Images)
Jerome at the Blades?
In the end United brought in two new forwards last summer in David McGoldrick and Conor Washington. Both were free transfers.
While Washington has been a squad player at best and is yet to score a goal for the club, McGoldrick has been a revelation.
The former Ipswich Town attacker already has 12 league goals for the Blades in 2018/19 and has penned a new two-year contract as a result.
The two players are of a similar attacking style and age (Jerome is nine months older), so it would have been a surprise if Chris Wilder had signed both.
Therefore it is a case of what might have been, with Jerome – on paper – being the more attractive prospect. The ex-England Under-21 international has scored 80 Championship goals in 269 appearances (in comparison to 72 in 309 from McGoldrick).
Jerome also has 32 Premier League strikes in 211 games, while McGoldrick has never played in the top flight. The former would have had wage demands that reflected that as well.
It seems, in hindsight, everyone got what they wanted.
