The summer transfer window is edging ever closer and Paul Warne is busy trying to secure new players for Derby County.
A Championship campaign on the horizon has required Paul Warne to overhaul his Derby squad.
Warne has shown so far that he isn’t afraid to make the difficult decisions having let go of captain Conor Hourihane and Golden Glove Award-winning goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith.
The Rams boss knew he had to rip up the side that earned him promotion to compete in the second tier next season, describing it as the toughest division he’s seen in years.
As a result, Warne now needs to make significant improvements to his squad, namely a new goalkeeper, a completely new midfield and multiple forward players.
Those are the positions of priority and Derby have been linked to multiple talents, including Liverpool’s Bobby Clark, released Nottingham Forest youngster Ateef Konate and Oxford United’s Josh Murphy.
With the transfer window on the horizon and several rumours swirling around, Warne has now dropped an update on where he’s currently at regarding transfer dealings.
Paul Warne drops exciting Derby County transfer update
The work to improve a squad starts long before the transfer window, with Warne claiming plans ahead of the 2024/25 campaign started in January.
He understands the importance of planning as he knew by that point which players were leaving at the end of their contracts, allowing him to set out his stall accordingly.
Planning is well underway for the transfer window opening, with Warne now revealing he met three players on Monday ahead of potential moves to Pride Park.
Speaking live on talkSPORT, the 51-year-old said: “I met three players on Monday, it’s just a constant thing and today I’ve been down; texting players, texting my current players, it’s just a constant battle to get people in.”
What Derby County need in the summer transfer window
Ahead of a gruelling Championship campaign, Warne needs an abundance of firepower, athleticism and pace to completely overhaul his forward line.
Derby were the joint-lowest scorers in the league’s top six last term, so signing a proven striker to move ahead of Conor Washington and James Collins in the pecking order is imperative.
The Rams also have a blank canvas to work from in midfield as several departures left just Tyrese Fornah, Darren Robinson and Liam Thompson as options in the engine room. Warne will be looking to add at least three midfielders to his ranks this summer.
Perhaps most importantly, though, Derby require two new goalkeepers through the door; a number one to replace Wildsmith and a third choice – or a player from the youth side – to act as second in command to Josh Vickers.
There’s a lot of work to be done for Derby to stay in the Championship and after suffering relegation three times from this level, Warne will be desperate to avoid a fourth.
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