Derby County have made some prolific transfer blunders in the past and a decision to let go of one player in the Frank Lampard era has come back to bite them.
Whilst Derby are preparing to stay in the Championship in 2024/25, in the Frank Lampard era, the Rams were expected to win promotion back to the Premier League.
Mel Morris armed Lampard with a big budget to spend in the window as the former England international used his contacts at Chelsea to sign Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori on loan along with Liverpool’s Harry Wilson.
Following an impressive summer transfer window in 2018, Derby would challenge for promotion, only to miss out in the play-off final to Aston Villa, as goals from John McGinn and Anwar El Ghazi sent Villa to the Premier League.
Despite missing out on a place in the top-flight, Chelsea would name Lampard as their new manager however, before he left Pride Park, his decision to sell one player has come back to haunt them.
Former Derby midfielder Timi Elsnik joins Champions League club Red Star Belgrade
Derby signed midfielder Timi Elsnik for their academy in 2015 and upon his arrival, expectations were high.
The Slovenian won the Scholar of the Year Award in his first campaign but that wasn’t enough to earn him first-team opportunities, and was instead shipped out to lower-league sides Mansfield, Northampton and Swindon.
Upon his return from a spell at Northampton in 2019, Lampard decided to release Elsnik, who returned to his native country to join NK Olimpija.
Now aged 26, the ‘excellent’ midfield talent has come on leaps and bounds since leaving Pride Park, recording 10 goals and six assists for his club last term while playing all three matches for Slovenia at Euro 2024.
Elsnik’s performances on the international stage warranted interest from multiple English clubs, including Southampton, Leicester and Hull City, but he’s now completed a transfer to Champions League side Red Star Belgrade.
Red Star have paid €1.5m to capture the former Derby academy star, who has signed a four-year contract at the Serbian giants.
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Derby County wish they had Timi Elsnik now
At the time, it looked like a wise decision to release Elsnik, as he didn’t possess the qualities to play in a side battling for promotion.
In his three loan spells, he failed to show anything that suggested he would have been a valuable asset for Derby in the future.
It appears, though, that Elsnik was a late developer and a return to his native country was the catalyst for him to showcase his talent and become a regular internationally.
Now capped 19 times by his country and preparing to play in the Champions League next term, he’s the type of player Warne wishes he had to select from.
Elsnik would have brought an abundance of attacking talent to the Derby midfield, namely his ability to wreak havoc, scoring 27 goals and supplying 19 assists for his former club.
Sadly, Elsnik isn’t the first and won’t be the last youngster to leave Derbyshire and achieve greater things elsewhere.