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After Brendan Rodgers spent the dying days of the transfer window significantly shoring up his defense with the arrivals of Mamadou Sakho and Tiago Ilori, common speculation dictated that Andre Wisdom would then be free to go out on loan to earn some much needed minutes in another side's starting eleven.
Fulham had been the first rumoured destination earlier in the summer, with Wigan then becoming the club of choice shortly after the transfer window closed, but neither loan materialized. Nearly two months later, the Mirror is now reporting that Derby County is where Wisdom will spend the rest of the season — for realsies this time — where ex-England manager Steve McLaren has allegedly been looking to beef up his defense all season.
With the consistent loan rumours and increased competition for space at the back, it's clear something needs to be done for Wisdom if he's to continue his development. The twenty year-old has only made three appearances this season, and with two of those being unconvincing starts at right back, he quickly got scratched from Brendan Rodgers' list of options for depth in Glen Johnson's absence. Wisdom is so far down the list of options at centre back that it seems nigh impossible that he'd ever get an opportunity there before next season's pre-season friendlies.
A loan spell has been at the top of the wish list for many fans, and the only real doubt would be whether or not Derby County is the right club for him at this point. As Jake pointed out in his most recent academy update, Liverpool's loan clubs have been rather hit-or-miss this season. Suso has been tearing it up in Spain and Jack Robinson is seeing significant minutes at Blackpool, but their colleagues Joao Carlos Teixeira and Michael Ngoo both recently returned from their own abruptly ended loans when it was clear neither Brentford nor Yeovil Town were the appropriate places to help their games.
Here's to hoping that Derby County is the right choice for Wisdom at this point in his career. Derby finished 10th in the Championship last season, and currently sit in eighth place after twelve matches.