Former Derby County boss Gary Rowett has recently started writing a column, discussing everything football of old and new.
Gary Rowett manged Derby County between 2017 and 2018.
And statistically speaking, he’s one of the better Rams bosses of the modern era.
Rowett won 26 of his 60 games in charge (43.44%), more than the likes of Paul Clement and even Frank Lampard.
Rowett’s only full season in charge, the 2017/18 season, ended in a 6th place finish in the Championship, with Matej Vydra the star that year.
Since then, Rowett has had spells with Stoke City and Millwall, the latter lasting four years, with Rowett last in the Championship as Birmingham City’s interim boss at the end of last season.
Derby County meanwhile are back in the Championship after a two-year hiatus in League One, with Paul Warne at the helm.
Warne’s side lost vs Blackburn Rovers on the opening day, then going on to beat Chesterfield in the Carabao Cup at Pride Park in midweek.
Gary Rowett reveals how close Derby County came to signing Ademola Lookman
Writing on his column for Derbyshire Live, Rowett discussed the transfer market, and recalled how he tried to sign Ademola Lookman on loan from Everton when Derby boss.
Rowett wrote: “I remember at Derby we were very close to signing Ademola Lookman from Everton on loan before he went to Germany.
“We thought at the time that it was more or less done. We had organised it and felt that it would be a very strong deal.
“About an hour later, I’m sat in the manager’s office and then realised we were a reserve.
“We’re trying to do the deal and I looked up at Sky Sports on the TV and it’s coming across the ticker tape that Lookman has signed for Leipzig and the window shut in Germany an hour before ours.
“That was a big blow.”
Lookman, now at Atalanta in Serie A, has shone in Italy and on the international stage with Nigeria.
He has six goals in 26 games for his country and has been named Atalanta’s Player of the Season on two occasions, winning the Europe League last time round.
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Derby County must avoid transfer frustration under Paul Warne this summer
Signing Lookman may well have given Derby County the edge they needed in that 2017/18 season.
But the Rams missed out, as they likely have on several players this summer too.
It’s a competitive market and even more so now with clubs spending crazy amounts on players.
One thing is certain right now, and that’s that Warne needs some new signings at Derby County if his side are to battle relegation.
And Warne must avoid being beaten by bigger teams to certain targets, how Rowett was in the race for Lookman, though that’s much easier said than done.
A lot of emphasis will be on the Derby County owners to dip into their pockets and give Warne all they can in their fight for survival this season.