Derby County have a couple of players in demand ahead of January; Eiran Cashin and Max Bird.
Derby County have moved up the League One table in recent weeks after an upturn in form.
Paul Warne has overseen four-straight wins with the last being a 1-0 win at Port Vale in the week, with loan man Tyreece John-Jules scoring with his first touch since returning from injury.
Cashin and Bird have both been influential in this recent upturn in form; Cashin especially with the centre-back dominating the stats vs Port Vale.
But both have suitors ahead of January with Brighton expected to move for Cashin and Hull City expected to return for Bird after failing to land him in the summer.
What’s been said about Eiran Cashin and Max Bird?
Leigh Curtis has recently run the rule over both players.
Writing for Derbyshire Live, he says that it would take ‘mega-money’ for the Rams to consider selling either player, with both set to be offered new contracts; both are currently out of contract next summer though Cashin’s current deal holds a one-year option.
Curtis also adds, interestingly, that if Bird leaves as a free agent next summer, the compensation fee that they’d receive from his subsequent transfer ‘would outweigh any offer that may come their way in January’.
As for Cashin, Curtis says that should he be sold, then ‘Derby have to ensure they either keep him on loan for the rest of the season or find a suitable replacement’.
The debate for Derby County
Derby County are back in the top six and seemingly back on track to challenge for promotion to the Championship.
There’s of course a long way to go and given how inconsistent the Rams often are under Warne, few will be counting on Derby County retaining this current form.
But the club are certainly in the mix right now and so when January comes, the hierarchy will have a difficult decision to make on both Bird and Cashin.
The decision surrounding Cashin certainly seems to be more difficult given that the club can let go of Bird next summer and still receive a decent transfer fee.
Cashin though, whilst he’s effectively under contract until 2025 even without signing a new deal, is playing at a level well above League One right now and expect clubs to know about it.
Links to Brighton are a huge credit to him and it would be hard to turn that move down; and for Derby, Brighton have money to spend after a big summer of sales, so the Rams could command a sizeable transfer fee.
Clubs in the Football League somewhat have to be selling clubs, but with Derby County in the promotion mix, there’ll be some difficult decisions in January should clubs come in for any of their players.