It’s been a busy few days at Derby County following the eagerly anticipated completion of the takeover at the end of last week.
The deal which saw Clowes Development become the Rams’ new owners was officially confirmed on Friday evening.
With the focus at Pride Park now on building a successful and fruitful future, interim manager Liam Rosenior has been hard at work assembling his side following the club’s relegation to League One.
The recruitment team have wasted no time in getting to work and with the league campaign set to start in three weeks time, Rosenior will be hoping to have a side that he believes is capable of sealing an immediate return to the Championship, at his disposal.
The former Premier League side kick off their League One campaign by welcoming Oxford United to Pride Park on Saturday, 30 July.
With that in mind, HITC Sport takes a how Derby County could line-up against Oxford to kick off their new era.
How Derby County could line-up on opening day of League One
Derby’s first-choice goalkeeper for the new season looks set to be Joe Wildsmith who has moved to Derbyshire on a free transfer from fellow League One side Sheffield Wednesday.
The 26-year-old made 89 appearances for the Owls and registered 27 clean sheets from those matches.
The 33-year-old, who has been capped 35 times for Wales, will bring experience, calmness and leadership to the Derby County dressing room.
The Welshman could slot into defence alongside Republic of Ireland youngster Eiran Cashin, who made 18 appearances in the Championship last year, and signed a new contract with the Rams earlier this week.
In the full-back areas, Rosenior is hoping to utilise his contacts at former club Brighton to sign defender Haydon Roberts on loan, according to the Athletic.
The left-footed centre-halve, who can play at left-back, spent the 2020-21 campaign on loan at Rochdale and he made 26 appearances for the Spotland side.
At right-back, Rosenior could do a lot worse than targeting Danny Simpson who is currently a free agent following his release from Bristol City. The Rams have lost talented England Under-21 international Lee Buchanan to Werder Bremen.
Like Chester, the former Manchester United man, who famously won the Premier League with Leicester City, would bring experience and a winning mentality into the Rams’ dressing room.
At the age of 35, Simpson could play an instrumental role in the Rams’ quest to get back into the second tier of English football at the first time of asking.
Rosenior will hope to keep the influential Jason Knight and the arrival of Knight’s fellow Republic of Ireland countryman Conor Hourihane could well convince Knight, who has one year remaining on his contract, to stay at Pride Park.
Hourihane, who arrives from Aston Villa, on a free transfer will bring quality, creativity, guile and goals to Derby’s midfield.
The right-winger, who has 24 goals and 25 assists from 175 League One appearances, could be joined on the flanks by Tom Barkhuizen who has moved to Derby after five-and-a-half years with Preston North End.
From 209 matches for the Deepdale side, the 29-year-old scored 38 goals and provided 21 assists.
Similar to Knight, Derby will be hoping to retain the services of talented attacking midfielder Louie Sibley whose contract with the Rams expires in 2024.
Rosenior will want the England Under-20 international to spearhead Derby’s promotion charge and he could well be unleashed in an advanced midfield role following the arrival of Hourihane.
The 34-year-old, who has 14 caps for Ireland, has scored 125 career goals and has netted an impressive 25 goals from 55 appearances at League One level.
With Rosenior’s side already coming together – it looks like Wayne Rooney’s former assistant manager could have the perfect blend of youth and experience in his Derby County side, ahead of the League One campaign.
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