Derby County were stung by £3m transfer - he's showing his true colours at Reading FC | OneFootball

Jack Marriott is now shining at Reading and that will further frustrate Derby County, who signed him for £3 million in 2018.

In the late-to-mid-2010s, Jack Marriott was one of the most sought after strikers in the EFL and it was Derby County that managed to successfully complete his prized capture in the summer of 2018.

Beverley-born Marriott had come through the academy at Ipswich Town but made just two league appearances for the Tractor Boys amid loan stints with Working on three occasions, as well as Gillingham, Carlisle United and Colchester United.

Having never really shown much other than promise and potential as a youngster, then League Two outfit Luton Town took the plunge on him and it paid off initially as he hit 14 goals in 40 appearances for the Hatters, ahead of notching eight in 39 in the following campaign as Nathan Jones’ side suffered a playoff semi-final loss to Blackpool.

That slight dip in output didn’t discourage suitors, though, and Peterborough United, renowned for their identification of eventually prolific goal scorers, came calling.

Marriott led the line brilliantly for Posh in the 2017/18 campaign, scoring 33 goals across all competitions for a team that would only finish as high as ninth in the third-tier.

That impressive campaign for Peterborough saw plenty of interest but it was to be Derby, who had just appointed Frank Lampard, that came calling and managed to land the still then young and promising attacker for a fee of £3 million.

Marriott had his moments for Derby but would have to be regarded as a bit of a flop – and the fact that he is now regaining his best form while with Reading - even at the level below the Championship - would only further frustrate Rams supporters.

Jack Marriott had moments of quality, but ultimately flopped at Derby County

In the summer of 2018, Derby, with Lampard now in the dugout, embarked upon a very busy summer transfer window that saw the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Harry Wilson arrive on loan – as well as permanent moves for Florian Jozefzoon, Scott Malone, George Evans, Martyn Waghorn and Duane Holmes.

The star striking addition in what was an eye-catching summer in terms of incomings was indeed the capture of Marriott, though, who was expected to continue his brilliant surge to becoming one of the most exciting prospects in the EFL.

Marriott initially struggled to break into the side at Derby with three games as an unused substitute and just a 13-minute cameo against Ipswich to show for the first month of the campaign.

It didn’t help the striker, who had already experienced seasons of immense highs and then a bit of a dip in the middle while with Luton, to not be able to find consistent rhythm and fluency for his game.

His first start came as late as early October in a 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers – a game in which Marriott actually scored his first goal for the club, beginning a run of seven goals four assists in 13 starts before again dipping and then finding his minutes becoming more and more fleeting before the end of the season as Derby squeezed themselves into the top six and the play-off places.

Marriott had his moments with Derby and that run of form certainly showed his quality before he produced one of their more memorable victories in recent years as he scored a famous match-winning brace against Leeds United at Elland Road from off the bench to win Derby their thrilling play-off semi-final against Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites.

Marriott even got on the scoresheet at Wembley Stadium in the final against Aston Villa – again, despite having not been trusted to start the match that he had delivered a week or so earlier.

Phillip Cocu gave Marriott chances, but not too many from the start, in the following campaign and, with just two goals scored in 32 Championship appearances, it had to be said that, already, despite what he had done and what he had shown, Marriott’s Derby career and the big money move had failed.

Jack Marriott is finding his form for Reading and showing what Derby County failed to see

Marriott struggles with injuries and game time in the 2020/21 campaign, eventually enduring an unsuccessful loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday before returning to Peterborough.

Back with Posh, nine goals in 28 games in the second-tier suggested Marriott was back but a lack of durability meant he couldn’t really be trusted and backed to be the talismanic figure in the final third at London Road, prior to again boosting his reputation once more at Fleetwood Town.

His stint with the Cod Army saw Marriott then become the latest big money acquisition by an ambitious Wrexham side in League Two and he helped them, albeit on the periphery of things in a Phil Parkinson side not necessarily suited to his poaching, off the shoulder of the defender talents, to back-to-back promotions.

He left Wrexham in the summer of 2025 and, with the Red Dragons as was the case back at Posh and at Fleetwood, had shown signs of the player he once was and could have been – but it is with Reading whereby he will leave some Derby supporters immensely frustrated.

Always an excellent finisher, Marriott appears to have rediscovered a level of fitness that is helping his return to being one of the deadliest attackers in the EFL once more.

The Royals are in a push for the top six and the play-off places in League One and Marriott is the star turn in that side with 15 goals in 21 games – just short of a third of Reading’s entire tally.

There is of course the caveat that Marriott is doing his goalscoring in the third tier and not in the Championship, but it's clear to see that he never lost his goalscoring touch that he developed as a young player in the EFL.

Trusted to be the main man, Marriott will be providing Derby supporters with reason to think and consider ‘what could have been’ had Lampard and Cocu trusted the striker back then, especially with what he did deliver when given the opportunity in the big moments.