Derby County are still on the lookout for a Joe Wildsmith replacement and luckily, the perfect candidate may have just been released from a Premier League side.
Ahead of their first season back in the Championship, Paul Warne is faced with multiple problems at Derby County.
Warne needs to bolster several positions with added quality, but arguably the most important is goalkeeper having released Joe Wildsmith and veteran Scott Loach.
Derby currently have Josh Vickers as their only senior goalkeeper while watching targets such as Viktor Johansson join Stoke City.
It came as a surprise to many when Warne let Wildsmith leave, with the 28-year-old winning the division’s Golden Glove Award after collecting 20 clean sheets.
Ultimately, though, the Derby boss couldn’t trust the ex-Sheffield Wednesday keeper in the Championship, which is why he’s on the hunt for another.
Marek Rodak has just been released by Fulham
Warne celebrated three promotions during his time at Rotherham United and Marek Rodak was his goalkeeper for one of them.
The Slovakian international played 35 times in the Millers 2017/18 campaign – following his loan move from Fulham – and kept 11 clean sheets.
With the Cottagers winning promotion to the Premier League in that season, they decided to loan him out to Rotherham once more, where he kept six clean sheets in 45 appearances as Warne suffered relegation back to League One.
Rodak’s time in the second tier hasn’t all been bad, though, having played 33 times in Fulham’s 2021/22 title-winning campaign.
However, since keeping an impressive 14 clean sheets, the 27-year-old has featured just 13 times under Marco Silva, with only two of those appearances coming in the top flight.
Rodak’s future was up in the air at the end of this campaign, though Fulham have decided to release him and Derby should now pounce to make him their No.1.
Why Derby County must sign Marek Rodak
When Rotherham were relegated back to League One in 2019, Warne tried to persuade the talented shot-stopper to return for a third stint, to no avail.
Speaking to Sky Sports at the time, he said: “We attempted it but he respectfully said he wanted to play in the Championship and rightfully so. If I were his adviser I would not have told him to come back either.”
Now Rodak is available on a free transfer, Warne has a chance to sign up a player he loves permanently, having previously described him as “brave” and what he looks for in a goalkeeper, saying: “The main reason that we were attracted to signing him is that he was brave. I like my goalkeeper to come for crosses not just to stay on the line all the time. He is a really confident kid. Quite vocal, which is good for a goalkeeper. That is why we took him.”
A crucial piece to Derby’s survival puzzle will be getting the goalkeeper signing correct as they’ll likely be called into action a lot and they’ll need to be a real presence.
Rodak has proven in the past that he’s great at commanding his area and being a calming presence in his defence.
It’s an even bigger bonus that Warne has worked with him previously, and given he’s a title-winning keeper at this level, snapping him up for nothing could be a bargain.
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