Derby County appear to have made a new defender their main priority today.
The Rams have already been linked with free-agent Liam Cooper, while they are one of a number of clubs ‘exploring’ a loan deal for Leicester City’s Ben Nelson.
Derby County have already signed ten new players following their promotion, but are yet to snap up a single defender.
There has been a huge focus on bolstering their midfield following a number of key departures, bringing in the likes of David Ozoh, Ben Osborn and Kenzo Goudmijn.
Despite the addition of five new midfielders, Derby have recently been linked with another.
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Derby County target now the subject of League One bids
Football Insider reported earlier this month that the Midlands outfit were in the race to sign Fleetwood Town’s Brendan Wiredu, but they faced competition from other Championship clubs.
The 24-year-old is primarily a defensive midfielder, but can also play at centre-back and would provide Paul Warne with some versatility.
However, Derby don’t seem to have made an offer for Wiredu and now face even more competition for his signature.
According to journalist Pete O’Rourke, Fleetwood have rejected bids of £500,000 and £650,000 from Wycombe Wanderers and another ‘unnamed League One club’.
It’s unclear whether Warne’s side are still in for Wiredu, but they will have to pay over £650k if they want to bring him to Pride Park.
The Fleetwood skipper really made his mark in League One last term, despite suffering relegation to the fourth division.
The Rams are likely to have moved on from Brendan Wiredu
Championship interest is high and it seems likely that a bidding war could develop if he is to leave Highbury Stadium.
Wiredu has mostly played as a centre-back for Town this year, so Derby are surely intending on playing him in the backline.
They are running out of time to bring in a new centre-back though and could move on from Wiredu in favour of signing a natural defender.
The Rams have had plenty of time to push for his signature in recent weeks though, so perhaps their interest ended earlier this month anyway.
Given how light Derby are in central defence, it would be a real disaster of a deadline day if they don’t manage to wrap one up.