Derby County have confirmed their second signing of the summer transfer window as Kayden Jackson joins as a free agent.
Jackson, 30, has signed a two-year deal at Pride Park following on from a six-year spell at Ipswich Town – which had plenty of ups and downs.
The versatile forward joined the Tractor Boys in 2018, but suffered relegation in the same season down to League One.
After a long stay in the division, Kieran McKenna guided the East Anglian outfit to a double promotion, making a return to the Premier League.
Jackson’s role in that saw him score a few key goals, but most importantly he worked hard from the bench to ensure that Ipswich saw games out until the end.
With his move to Derby now confirmed, Paul Warne will be looking to extract some of that pace and versatility to his advantage in the Championship this season.
- READ MORE: Derby County confirmed signings, transfer ins and outs, loans and releases for 2024 summer window
Kayden Jackson on Derby County transfer talks
With a deal now sealed, the new Derby County signing spoke with RamsTV to discuss the move and his excitement for the coming season.
Speaking on the transfer negotiations, Jackson said: “I obviously knew the boss [Paul Warne] from, I think I met him six or seven years ago, when he tried to sign me at Rotherham, and I think we’ve always kept in touch, we’ve always congratulated each other when we’ve had success and things like that.
“It’s been a long time coming, I think he reached out not long after I left Ipswich or at least when I found out I was leaving and I think from then it was a case of let’s get it done.
“Obviously negotiations and all that kind of stuff I kind of leave to my agent side of things and we had a lot of conversations over the last three, four weeks since I came to visit and it was always good speaking to him and I think as soon as I spoke to him I knew I wanted to be here.”
It shows yet again the work done by the Derby County manager to get the players he deems are key to his team’s success.
Kayden Jackson playing style
Derby’s new signing will look to bolster the attacking ranks available to Warne over the challenges of the Championship campaign.
Jackson is capable of playing as a striker, winger or even at wing-back if required, displaying great versatility that has become renowned with the current manager.
With great pace, the 30-year-old is an asset both in attack and in defence, offering an ability to counterattack or press to defend from the front.
While the goal-scoring numbers don’t paint the picture of a prolific bagsman, his usefulness at Ipswich has often been found in the ways mentioned above.
It’s those squad members that can often keep a team ticking over and for Derby, it adds another option to their attacking ranks.