Derby County will be monitoring the situation of a Championship star who is set to become a free agent this summer.
Derby County will be looking to add to their ranks this summer following promotion back to the Championship.
The Rams managed to finish in the automatic spots at the second time of asking for Paul Warne following the 2022/23 season where they missed out on the League One play-offs.
In the build up to the new season, it is expected that Derby will make multiple signings following the release of big players such as Conor Hourihane and Korey Smith.
After their two-year hiatus from the Championship, they will be looking to replace the departed players with proven firepower, with one reported summer transfer target set to become a free agent.
Derby County target Josh Windass set to be released
Derby County were linked with a move for Sheffield Wednesday striker Josh Windass soon after the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
Windass is out of contract at the end of June and it was said that the Rams, along with the likes of Hull City and West Brom were monitoring his situation.
It looked as though Windass would be staying at Hillsborough. But in a turn of events, Football Insider now claim that Windass has rejected Sheffield Wednesday’s latest contract offer, and that he’s now set to leave as a free agent this summer.
The attacker played a crucial part in Wednesday’s fight for survival this season with eight goal contributions, despite being hampered with injuries throughout the campaign.
The 30-year-old also has bags of experience, having tallied 129 Championship appearances across his career, something that may be crucial with Hourihane departing from Pride Park.
Why Josh Windass would be a smart signing at Derby County
Windass has continuously proven throughout his career that injuries won’t get the better of him, playing a crucial part for Sheffield Wednesday and their survival.
His time at Rangers also showed the Hull-born attacker at his best, totalling an impressive 25 goal contributions in just 52 Scottish Premiership matches.
Windass easily fits the description of a ‘big-game player’ as well, clearly proven by his heroics at Wembley as he led his side to a 1-0 victory over Barnsley.
Going into the new season, Derby County are currently very light in attack following the departure of Dwight Gayle and Martyn Waghorn, therefore recruitment must be emphasised in this area of the pitch.
Windass would be a perfect player to build a team around as they look to consolidate a place in the Championship this campaign.
The damage this would do to fellow Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday is massive, taking one of their main attacking outputs. Derby will certainly struggle to find a better player for free than Windass.
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