Paul Warne has suggested he is concerned over Derby County’s transfer business, despite admitting they need ‘fresh blood’.
Derby County last paid a transfer fee in September 2020, having spent two years under a transfer embargo that lasted until the end of last season.
Despite no longer being under restrictions, The Rams went onto keep it cheap in the summer transfer window, signing the likes of Curtis Nelson, Sonny Bradley and Martyn Waghorn on free transfers.
Derby actually did pretty well in the transfer window considering and now find themselves battling for promotion in the top six of the League One table, but Paul Warne has certainly recognised that they will need to bolster their ranks if they are to keep up the fight.
While the Midlands outfit are looking to extend the loan spell of Tyreece John-Jules and have also been linked with players such as Conor Coventry and Charlie Savage, Warne’s latest update has suggested that they won’t necessarily bring in the signings they want.
Speaking to Derbyshire Live, Warne said: “I have put my requirements in and everybody knows what I want but that doesn’t always mean you will get it.
“Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool may want something but it doesn’t mean he will. The January window is always the harder of the two.
“It’s evident we need one or two players to help us over the line but there are no guarantees. Everybody is trying actively to reinforce it but I’ve said loads of times that the best teams who went up last year, didn’t lose anyone and improved. We didn’t improve. We kept the same group and they just fatigued by the end. We have an older team than a lot of others but we need fresh blood I think.”
How important is the January window to Derby County’s chances?
This time last year, Derby County sat in the same position in League One – in fourth place. Just like this season, they also sat three points from seventh.
The Rams went onto make three loan signings in the January window – Tottenham’s Harvey White, Forest Green Rovers’ Luke McGee and Norwich City’s Tony Springett.
While the clubs around them improved, Derby didn’t, and instead they begun dropping points to the likes of Fleetwood Town, Shrewsbury and Bristol Rovers, before they eventually finished one point outside the play-offs.
Derby County would be stupid to make the same mistake again and really ought to provide Paul Warne with the tools he needs to make this a solid second half to the campaign, because otherwise we will be back here starting all over again in eight months time.