Derby County’s dream transfer as Stoke City need surgery and a Birmingham City ‘statement’..
DerbyshireLive brings you the latest as the Rams prepare for the opening of the summer transfer window..
The transfer window will open for business at the beginning of June with clubs being given 10 days to do any early summer shopping before it reopens again on the 16th.
Derby County are expected to have a busy summer as John Eustace looks to put his own stamp on the squad for the first time since being appointed head coach back in January.
He has already made some significant decisions with the club releasing their retained list on Friday with eight players leaving and two – Craig Forsyth and Liam Thompson – being offered new contracts.
READ MORE: Every Championship retained list so far as former Derby County transfer target is released
READ MORE: Derby County confirm pre-season tour as summer preparations take shape
Defender Matt Clarke has signed a new three-year contract while Kane Wilson will remain at Pride Park for another year at least after the club triggered an option in his contract.
With clubs across the country getting their ducks in a row before the window opens, here writers Leigh Curtis (Derby), Alex Dicken (Birmingham), Pete Smith (Stoke) and Andy Turner (Coventry) give their verdicts on what lies ahead this summer.
What do your team need this window?
Leigh Curtis: A new attack. The problems Derby had last season wasn’t so much defensively, but at the other end of the pitch. John Eustace did a remarkable job when you consider the leading scorer only had 10 goals which was Jerry Yates, who was followed by Ebou Adams with six.
Nearly half of the goals Derby scored in the Championship last season were from set-pieces and Eustace effectively had to play the hand he was dealt. He wasn’t given much in terms of firepower and that needs to change.
A couple of new forwards, a couple of new wingers and a goalscoring midfield player who is capable of getting 10 to 12 goals would be a dream.
Alex Dicken (Birmingham): Ryan Allsop needs greater competition for starters. Blues need to find a goalkeeper who can genuinely contest the number one spot.
A centre-back is a must, ideally Ben Davies, and another one will be needed if Krystian Bielik tries to find more regular football elsewhere. Blues need another left-back in the short-term whilst they wait for Lee Buchanan to recover and renewing Lee Myung-jae’s contract makes sense if he is happy to play that role.
I like Blues’ midfield options but another quality option wouldn’t go amiss, particularly with Taylor Gardner-Hickman playing most of his football last season in wide areas. Then I would say at least two wingers, plus two centre-forwards – ideally a couple of those players will also be comfortable operating in the number 10 position.
Pete Smith (Stoke): Stoke are probably looking at a centre-half or two, a full-back who can play on either side, a holding midfielder, a couple of wingers and a centre-forward or two. There will be a focus on improving physicality and availability too and they’ll hopefully come out of this window looking a bit more like the Stoke that everyone else thinks Stoke look like.
There have been a fair few exits already but only Ashley Phillips and perhaps Ali Al-Hamadi were starting games when the squad was fit. A first team player could yet leave too, if the right offer comes in, and the cash would go into the rebuild pot.
Andy Turner (Coventry): A new top quality goalkeeper, first and foremost, given that this season’s first choice Oliver Dovin will be out for much of next term with an ACL, while Brad Collins is likely to be deemed surplus to requirements after a difficult first two years at the club dogged by individual mistakes. That leaves Ben Wilson, who has done well since being back from long-term injury but City really do need a stand-out number one. A dominant centre-half would also be on the wanted list along with a right-back to compete with Milan van Ewijk – currently the squad’s only recognised specialist in the position – and arguably added competition at left-back.
Given there is likely to be a bit of churn in the middle of the park, with out of contract Jamie Allen facing an uncertain future and Ben Sheaf possibly a player who City might cash in on, arguably two new dynamic midfielders. A right winger to compete with Tatsuhiro Sakamoto is also required, as is a natural goal scorer.
What was your biggest transfer success last season?
Leigh Curtis: There were several candidates. Ordinarily I would have said Ebou Adams, but given he was at the club last season we all knew what his strengths were and he has carried that on this season to deservedly take the player of the season crown.
But if I had to choose I would go for Nat Phillips who really came into his own in the second half of the season. He had to be patient to get into the team in the first half of the campaign, but once he did, he was outstanding.
He oozed real class as Derby stayed up and they are the kind of players who you need to kick you on. Derby fans would love that deal to happen and I can understand why. He was great.
Alex Dicken: You can’t look beyond Christoph Klarer who captained the team in the second half of the season and cleaned up the major prizes at the end-of-season awards dinner. The Austrian was virtually ever-present at centre-back and will be a key player for Blues in next season’s Championship.
The major success of last summer was signing players like Klarer who are ready for the Championship and using League One to bed them in.
Pete Smith: Viktor Johansson was a bargain signing from Rotherham on a relegation release clause and was runaway player of the season. His form in the winter was consistently outstanding, with brilliant displays of shot stopping. Stoke were conceding a lot of shots so he had a lot of chances to shine.
Andy Turner: Jack Rudoni was head and shoulders the best signing from summer. Hoped to be Callum O’Hare’s replacement, the attacking midfielder has flourished under his boyhood idol Frank Lampard, scoring ten goals and providing 13 assists in all competitions and making a clean sweep of the player of the year awards, including getting the unofficial vote from his team-mates – something that will be confirmed at the end of season presentation.
Meanwhile, Matt Grimes’ arrival in the January window was a recruitment masterstroke, with the player’s presence, quality and experience a key factor in City shooting up the league to hit the play-offs.
What would be the dream signing?
Leigh Curtis: Given Derby need to find some pace out wide and a genuine Championship wide player, then Tyrhys Dolan ticks all those boxes. He’s at the right age, John Eustace has worked with him before at Blackburn, the pair share a great relationship and I just think he would provide that bit of pace and bedevilment that was lacking last season.
Derby would have to pay a compensation fee, but if ever there was a move that is screaming to be done this summer, it’s that one.
Alex Dicken: A winger with electric pace that can carry the ball and do something out of the ordinary. Those players cost money but they do exist.
The dream signing would be a physical, yet mobile number nine who has proven himself at Championship level but is still relatively young. Josh Sargent leaps off the page. Signing him from Norwich would be a statement too.
Pete Smith: A mercurial, powerful, goal-scoring striker who put defenders on their backsides and got fans on their feet. So basically Marko Arnautovic or Ricardo Fuller.
Andy Turner: A proven, prolific goal scorer at this level capable of making the next step to the Premier League. Someone like Norwich City’s Josh Sargent springs to mind.
What mistakes were made in the window last season?
Leigh Curtis: There wasn’t enough firepower, it was that simple. The club went into the season with Jerry Yates, James Collins and Dajaune Brown as the fit strikers. Conor Washington was not available and it was generally a League One strike force at best.
In fairness to Yates, he did brilliantly to score 10 goals and he was always fit and available. It was just unfair on him to carry that burden just by himself purely because the back-up simply wasn’t good enough. That needs to change this summer.
Alex Dicken: The jury is still out on the players Blues signed from the Netherlands and I would be surprised if they went big on that market this year. Alfons Sampsted and Emil Hansson have been bit-part players and Willum Willumsson hasn’t shown his obvious talent consistently in the grind of an EFL season.
Pete Smith: Bosun Lawal and Sam Gallagher weren’t expected to spend so long in the treatment room and all the injuries combined thrust new boys like Andrew Moran and Tatsuki Seko to try to stand up and be counted in central midfield and Lewis Koumas in attack, which has probably emphasised the need now to focus on physicality.
But the real mistakes were made a year previously when Stoke had a game-changing budget and scope to make a massive difference under Alex Neil and Ricky Martin. It was not only a waste but left a hangover for their successors and supporters to live through while they get to move on at different clubs.
Andy Turner: ‘Mistakes’ feels a bit harsh to label any of City’s signings last summer but what I would say is that there have been disappointments in terms of players not living up to expectations, namely Luis Binks, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Raphael Borges Rodrigues. Certainly, centre-back Binks has not stepped up to establish himself in the side while striker Thomas-Asante’s form has been patchy. Winger Raphael has barely played, set back by an early season injury, and seems to have developed into more of a long-term project.
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