Paul Warne must do everything in his power to ensure one Derby County player does not leave the club in 2025.
Derby County are now back plying their trade in the Championship for the first time in two years.
The Rams have endured financial hardship in recent times and after their relegation to League One, have seen their ability to spend big on players limited.
Derby made 12 signings during the 2024 summer transfer window but only three of them joined for any sort of fee, with Jacob Widell Zetterstrom the only player to set them back over £1m.
The rest of their first-team additions arrived either on loan deals or on free transfers.
Ben Osborn has received high praise since he made the move to Derbyshire for nothing from Sheffield United.
But now, Derby may end up losing a key star of their own on a free transfer at the end of the 2024/25 season.
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Paul Warne cannot let Curtis Nelson leave Derby County for free
Curtis Nelson joined Derby from Blackpool on a free transfer on July 1st, 2023.
Staggeringly, the 31-year-old played every single minute of League One football in 2023/24 en route to the Rams winning promotion back to the second tier.
Paul Warne dubbed Nelson ‘colossal’ after one of many stellar performances during that season and he has carried that form into 2024/25.
Derby beat Bristol City 3-0 toward the beginning of the campaign, with Nelson named in the Championship Team of the Week for his part in the victory.
And after once again playing every minute of league football this term, Nelson is one of the highest-rated Derby players this season so far, according to Opta.
However, Warne and co. are currently in danger of losing the defender for free as his contract is due to expire at the end of 2024/25.
With Nelson proving himself a quality Championship defender, there are bound to be some clubs sniffing around him in January or as we get closer to the summer but Warne must do everything in his power to ensure the Englishman is offered a new deal in the very near future so he does not leave for free.
- READ MORE: Former Derby County player signed by Nigel Clough now in limbo as free agent after being released
Other Derby County players out of contract in 2025
While Nelson is perhaps the most high-profile name facing an uncertain future at Pride Park, a few more Derby players are also out of contract next year.
24-year-old right-back Kane Wilson is in the final 12 months of his deal along with out-of-favour winger, Tom Barkhuizen.
Liam Thompson, Sonny Bradley, Conor Washington, James Collins, Craig Forsyth and Rohan Luthra could also be searching for new clubs come the end of this season.
And with a number of loan deals set to expire next year, Derby’s squad could look very different come the start of 2025/26.