Grant in plea to Derby
Former Burnley goalkeeper Lee Grant is currently on loan from Derby County to Stoke City but he could be on his way back soon and swapping Premier League football for a place on Derby’s bench.
Grant left Burnley for Pride Park at the end of the 2012/13 season and for the first two seasons he was very much first choice. He played in the two games against Burnley in the first of those seasons when we won 3-0 at Pride Park and 2-0 at home.
There were no games between the two clubs in 2014/15 with Burnley in the Premier League but he didn’t feature in either game against us last season, following the signing of Scott Carson in the summer of 2015, although he had won his place back in the side prior to their visit to the Turf in January. With a return to play at Burnley on the horizon, they lost the previous game 3-0 at home against Birmingham with Carson immediately restored to the side.
Grant hasn’t played for Derby since and in August he was signed by Stoke on loan as cover due to Jack Butland’s injury. By the last weekend in September he was in the first team, making his Premier League debut in a 1-1 draw against West Brom when Shay Given was left out.
He’s been in the Stoke side ever since during which time they’ve made a big improvement after a difficult start to the season. They’ve lost just twice in twelve games and he’s conceded only 15 goals in those games with five clean sheets including the one against us.
Stoke would like to keep him and made an initial offer for the 33-year-old reported to be £750,000. The Derby Telegraph reported that County would be happy to have him back with them, presumably to sit on the bench, and have demanded around £4 million for him with Stoke basically telling them where to go.
The Potters have made it clear they are not prepared to pay that sort of fee for him and Mark Hughes has confirmed they will look elsewhere for a goalkeeper. Grant, though, is keen to make the move permanent and has made a heartfelt plea to his parent club not to wreck his Premier League dream.
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