‘Tis the season for transfer speculation.
As soon as the window opens on 1 January, you can be assured the month will be dominated by rumour, busy agents and hopefully some actual business being done.
Derby County head coach Paul Warne said this window is the one most teams look to address their mistakes in the summer but we also know that players will likely leave Pride Park in order for new additions to come through the door.
We’ll start with what Derby need and it’s been the same issue since Warne arrived back in 2022 – a target man.
They have Jerry Yates, who has been a great signing on loan in the summer, but the question is over a plan B in a worst case scenario.
If an injury happens, you’re turning to Dajaune Brown with just one professional goal to his name or James Collins who is at the latter stage of his career despite his proven track record of goalscoring.
Whilst straight batting an answer on transfers post-Leeds United, Warne did suggest at the very end “a 10, 7, 11, or a 9” could be on his shopping list which traditionally have been known as a creative midfielder, wide players or a striker.
Outgoings could be just as interesting as the incomings at Derby with a few names potentially looking for more first-team football.
After contributing to Derby’s promotion last season, Tom Barkhuizen, Sonny Bradley and Joe Ward have a combined 19 appearances in the Championship with five starts between them, so could they be knocking on the door looking for another option?
Conor Washington is yet to feature for a single minute in the first team after a number of injury battles so he will be another one that could see his future elsewhere.
There will be decisions around the loan players in the building – Tawanda Chirewa, from Wolves, has played the last two matches, in what were his third and fourth appearances, after an injury ruled him out for a chunk of his time at the club so far.
Plenty of ifs, buts and maybes going into this period but one thing’s for sure, we will be talking about it far too much!
