Derby County and Fulham are battling it out to sign Manchester United striker James Wilson on loan, according to a report in tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph.
Jose Mourinho has agreed to allow the forward to leave Old Trafford after not giving him a Premier League squad number for the new season having signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the summer. Marcus Rashford’s emergence as a genuine first-team player has pushed Wilson, who began his United career with a double on debut against Hull City in May 2014, down the club’s pecking order.
The 20 year-old, who remains highly rated at Carrington, spent part of last season on loan with Brighton and Hove Albion, where he scored five goals in 28 appearances. He is believed to have already rebuffed a move by Gary Rowett to take him to Birmingham on loan and appears to face a straight choice between Nigel Pearson’s Derby and Slavisa Jokanovic’s Fulham. Jokanovic has made the signing of additional firepower his top priority after the departures of Ross McCormack and Moussa Dembele, who scored 40 league goals between them last season.
Fulham began the season with three straight wins before a 1-1 draw at Leeds last night and Wilson is understood to feature prominently on their list of targets. The England under-21 international is believed to be ready to complete his move by this weekend and he hopes a successful loan spell will help him force his way back into the first-team reckoning at United.
