Tom Ince is back in the Premier League and this time he is with David Wagner’s plucky Huddersfield side, who have done alright as many expected them to struggle during their first ever campaign in the competition.
Ince, who was on the books of Liverpool early on, was one of the players linked with a move back to the club. The England winger left the Reds to join Blackpool, after a season on loan at Notts County, and recently revealed that a buy-back clause was the reason he couldn’t return to Merseyside.
The 25-year-old had stints at Crystal Palace, Hull City, Nottingham Forest and Derby County, before he joined Huddersfield.
While speaking to the Telegraph, the Englishman stated the reason why he could not move to Liverpool:
“Liverpool was very close but the Blackpool chairman did not want to be out of pocket because Liverpool owned a percentage of the sell-on fee.
“He made it difficult and they would not let me go. That was disappointing because I felt I would have been given a chance under Brendan Rodgers.”
We all remember how close we came to winning the Premier League under Rodgers and will hope for a better run of it under current manager Jurgen Klopp. But Ince also gave an insight as to why he left Liverpool in the first place.
“If you are a young player waiting for a chance at a top club, what do you do?” Ince said. “Stay in the top facility, enjoying all the best travel, wearing all the best sports gear?
“Or do you say I am going to be brave and step away even if that means going to League One or the Championship?
“My dream was to play at Anfield but I could not waste time feeling my way was blocked. You have to take decisions and do what is best for your career. I did not want to leave. I was training with the first team. But I needed to go and show what I was about.”
Moving to Blackpool did help Ince in getting a lot of playing time but he truly found his feet at Derby County which has now given him another chance to prove his talent on the biggest stage.
Ince did play for us once but that was in a League Cup tie against Northampton Town, which we lost. Who knows how well he could have turned out for us if his wish to re-join us had come true? For now though, he is enjoying his football at Huddersfield and hopefully, he can keep them safe from relegation.
