Derby County are rapidly progressing on a deal for free agent Dwight Gayle.
Dwight Gayle was released by Stoke City at the start of the month and was very quickly linked with a swift return to the Championship, with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town interested.
However, it now looks like the 34-year-old is increasingly likely to join Derby County on a free transfer.
The Rams were already eager to sign a new forward in the transfer window, but are even more desperate now that James Collins is set for months on the sidelines.
The attacker had netted 18 goals in all competitions this term, while Martyn Waghorn, Conor Washington and Tyreece John-Jules are all already sidelined.
Speaking after the win over Stevenage, manager Paul Warne confirmed that Derby were ‘doing everything’ they could to bring Gayle to Pride Park.
As per Stoke-on-Trent Live, Warne said: “I’ve got a list of two names and I’ve gone for my first one and all the paperwork has been done and was handed in yesterday. The EFL are still working with us in trying to make it happen and hopefully it will. We will continue into the start of next week.
“It is Dwight Gayle, but I’ve met him and he has a couple of other clubs chasing him. We are doing everything we can to get him in the building. But we still have to follow what the EFL want from us. We have done everything we can but hopefully when I go in Monday morning I will get the news that it’s all done. At least two other clubs are trying to do the same thing with him. We are in the hands of the EFL.”
Derbyshire Live have also confirmed that he was at Moor Farm on Friday to complete his medical and paperwork, while he has even already picked his shirt number.
The club are now awaiting a decision from the EFL, while Warne’s hopes of a done deal today could mean Gayle will become a Derby County before the end of play.
Is this a good signing?
Dwight Gayle certainly isn’t at the level that saw him score 23 goals in 32 games for Newcastle United anymore, but League One seems like a level that he could definitely still make a solid contribution in.
The veteran has bags of experience in the EFL and knows how to find the net, so if he was to only join till the end of the season then it definitely seems like a risk worth taking.
Derby signed in his mid-30s and he claimed 28 goal contributions in all competitions last season, so fans won’t be writing off Gayle anytime soon.