Derby County’s history of producing talented youngsters is vast and last night, one of their academy graduates made their European debut.
Derby County may have one of the oldest squads in League One, but the spine of their team is made up of players who graduated through the academy.
Eiran Cashin is the biggest of those examples and has arguably been Paul Warne’s most influential player this term. The 22-year-old has started 35 times in the third tier and was previously close to joining Brighton last summer.
READ MORE: Derby County star Eiran Cashin’s journey from almost released to Premier League transfer interest
Max Bird, who was captured by Bristol City on transfer deadline day and loaned back to Pride Park for the remainder of the season, is another who has been at the club since a very young age.
While Bird and Cashin are two players who have flourished in the first team and formed the backbone of their promotion challenge, other youngsters get robbed of that opportunity for various reasons but in some cases, have gone on to achieve bigger and better things elsewhere.
Derby sold Archie Brown to Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport in 2021 and is now wanted by Chelsea while attacking midfielder Omari Kellyman is regarded as one of Aston Villa’s most promising youngsters after leaving Pride Park in 2022.
Why Derby County sold Omari Kellyman in 2022
Kellyman joined Derby at the age of six and made rapid progression through the club’s academy.
The 18-year-old was a key cog in a successful Rams youth side and between the ages of nine and 11, his age group were among the top four nationally and regularly reached Premier League tournament finals.
Against the backdrop of Derby’s administration, a 21-point deduction and selling players of any worth during the 2021/22 campaign, Kellyman was fast-tracked into the first team.
Yet, two months after being named on the bench against Bournemouth in the Championship, Derby still needed to sell with several of their academy talents picked off.
Administrators regarded selling youngsters as the next route to generate funds, so once Aston Villa expressed an interest in Kellyman, they pushed to move him on.
Although the circumstances were out of Kellyman’s and Derby’s control, the fee the club received in February 2022 – around £600,000 – essentially kept the club afloat.
The club never wanted to sell their special talent, but their hands were forced and now he’s living out a dream at Villa Park.
Omari Kellyman makes European debut for Aston Villa
Hailed as an “absolute dream” by Josh Butler, a local recruitment manager at Derby, the teenager has impressed Unai Emery since he arrived at the club.
He came off the bench to make his first appearance for Villa in September, a 12-minute cameo against Everton in the Carabao Cup.
Kellyman has since suffered and recovered from a serious injury, scored seven goals in nine Premier League 2 appearances and now made his European debut.
The youngster’s stellar form rewarded him with a seven-minute appearance from the bench as Villa demolished Ajax 4-0 in the Europa Conference League last 16.
To feature in Europe at such a young age is a testament to his talent, with Derby left wondering what could have been.