Queens Park Rangers, Derby County and West Brom are the three Championship clubs being linked with Chelsea right-back Ola Aina
Derby County have an obvious advantage whenever any Chelsea youngster becomes available this summer – thanks to Frank Lampard.
The new Derby manager is a legend at Stamford Bridge. And it is these connections which helped The Rams land the highly-rated Mason Mount, who scored in the 2-1 opening day win at Reading, and defender Fikayo Tomori on loan deals.
So The Rams could be seen as the most obvious destination for Ola Aina this summer. The Mirror (live blog, 1.23pm) reports that Derby are keen on the 21-year-old right-back, who impressed during a spell in the Championship with Hull City last season.
It has been well documented that West Brom are interested too, having missed out on Yeovil Town’s Tom James last week.
But there is a new name in the frame – Chelsea’s West London rivals Queens Park Rangers. It is reported that Steve McClaren’s side are also interested in the Nigerian international but Derby perhaps represent a bigger threat to their hopes than the reigning Eredivisie champions PSV, who could offer Aina Champions League football should they navigate the qualifiers.
Aina featured in 44 Championship games for Hull in 2017/18, assisting three goals as Nigel Adkins’ side finished a disappointing 18th.
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