Derby County may look towards the academy this season to give one youth prospect game time.
Derby County’s start to the season has seen Paul Warne’s signings perform to a brilliant ability, showing that despite not spending much, the Rams have prepared very well for the stern test of the Championship.
The Rams have shown that a team does not have to spend much to compete at this level, with Swedish goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom being the only player in the side that has arrived for a seven-figure fee.
Along with the awareness of not needing to spend much in order to be successful, Warne is aware of the talents within the Derby County academy at this moment, and the game time that has been handed to Dajaune Brown in the EFL Cup has highlighted this.
The youngster was handed a widely-successful loan spell at Gateshead in the National League last season, and is now being handed game time with the Derby County first team.
Brown is not the only talented and young attacker at Derby County, with another player looking likely to feature for the Rams at some point this season.
Derby County youngster Emmanuel Ilesanmi could have breakthrough season under Paul Warne
Derby County attacker Emmanuel Ilesanmi is certainly one to keep an eye on across the 2024/25 season, with the attacker already getting off to a brilliant start at youth level.
His first and only start for the U21s so far this season came in a 3-2 defeat against Manchester City, where he was able to bag a goal, whilst also notching an assist by setting up fellow academy player Lennon Wheeldon.
The 19-year-old’s senior career so far has been on the limited side, with him tallying just 11 first-team appearances stretched across spells at Harrogate Town, Scarborough Athletic and Spennymoor Town.
Paul Warne must look towards the academy prospects more often
It is safe to say that Warne is fairly spoilt for choice when it comes to squad depth and options in every position.
With his squad being full, he struggles to hand game time out to various academy products in order to aid their development, something where Derby County fall behind in comparison to some Championship rivals.
Whilst Warne has given Brown the odd occasion in the first-team, he should definitely be handed more opportunities, and the knock-on effect of this would mean the likes of Ilesanmi are fast-tracked to the team in order to further their abilities.
19-year-old Ilesanmi could likely at this point have his chances of first-team action squandered as a result of the bloated options at striker, but if Warne did proactively move on the deadwood in the side, there is no reason why Ilesanmi couldn’t feature at one point for the Rams this season.