When Neil Warnock was asked about the prospect of Dael Fry moving to Burnley for £ 10m, you would have forgiven the fiery Yorkshireman for assuming it was some kind of rubbish April Fool’s Day hoax.
His response to the proposal was, well, exactly what you can expect from him when asked about possibly losing one of his best players, and you can guarantee he would not have sat in front of a bunch of journalists at a Zoom meeting at the at the time, his answer would contain a few more explosive teachings.
Unfortunately for the veteran boss, player power is a much bigger aspect of transfer sagas than it was when he began his leadership career in 1852 – but that does not mean he should resign to lose the Boro starlet.
After breaking into Teessider’s first team structure already in 2015/16, Fry has had to endure something of a turbulent time in senior football.
Once praised as the best to come out of the Boro academy since Stewart Downing, the young defender lost his way under the leadership of Tony Pulis and Jonathan Woodgate, so much so that Everton’s reported progress for him had Boro fans offering him to Merseyside.
Since Warnock arrived at Teesside, a number of Middlesbrough players have rediscovered their form and Fry is undoubtedly at the top of the list.
The 23-year-old suddenly looks like the wonderful talent who hit the stage five years ago, with the sloppy distribution and the poor sense of position that ruined his playing for a number of years suddenly a thing of the past.
Dael Fry has been a rock for Middlesbrough since the arrival of Neil Warnock Dan Istitene / Getty Images
Of course, we are all aware that championship sides can no longer have nice things since Aston Villa and West Ham realized that England’s second level is full of top talent, with performances from Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, especially Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio helping to banish the stigma of joining the lower leagues.
Therefore, there was probably not much shock for Warnock when he was asked by Burnley’s interest in Fry, but the youngster would be stupid to be drawn to the strong lights in the Premier League with Burnley.
While the prospect of making more money on Clarets will obviously catch the child’s eye, he will in principle be paid to subscribe to Burnley TV, for the closest he comes to the first team’s action will be watching from the bench.
Throughout Fry’s development at the Boro Academy, they have often been compared to Ben Gibson, a colleague from Middlesbrough who cemented his place in starting XI before moving to Burnley.
Dael Fry fought for a few years under Tony Pulis and then Jonathan Woodgate James Williamson – AMA / Getty Images
His spell on Turf Moor was a complete disaster, with Sean Dyche’s first-hand match between Ben Mee and James Tarkowski proving to be too solid to give way.
Although Gibson moved almost three years ago now, nothing has changed in Burnley, and that’s why Fry must stay for the time being.
Of course, both Mee and Tarkowski have come closer to the twilight of their respective careers at this point, but at 31 and 28, respectively, you can imagine that Fry will have to wait a few more seasons before he manages to force himself into start XI.
After his failed move to Turf Moor, Gibson has been forced to return to the championship to rebuild his career with Norwich City, and while doing just that before his last season injury, at 28, he missed a huge chunk of his career where he should have developed and played regular football.
Much of Ben Gibson’s time at Burnley was spent on the Mark Robinson / Getty Images bench
The similarities between both Gibson and Fry are for all to see, and if the latter has any meaning, he will listen to the warning about the former gloomy time at Turf Moor.
Warnock has done wonders for Fry’s career over the past year, and with the Boro boss confirming he will stay at Riverside Stadium next season, his star defender must remain if he is to realize his full potential.
