Phillip Cocu missed out on the chance to sign Serdar Dursun last summer after Derby County opted wait until the Darmstadt striker was available on the cheap, as reported by The Athletic.
Would Cocu still be in a job right now if one of the hottest strikers in German football had arrived at Pride Park?
That, in truth, is probably too simplistic a question. There were a myriad of problems facing the ex-PSV Eindhoven boss at Derby and the absence of a prolific number nine was just the tip of the iceberg.
But, following a season in which the Rams scored just 36 goals in 46 Championship games – the lowest tally in the division – it is tempting to wonder how differently a miserable campaign would have turned out had Derby backed Cocu in his pursuit of a Hamburg-born Turk.
In 34 matches for Darmstadt, Dursun found the net 21 times in 2020/21. That is more than he managed during an impressive 2019/20 (19).
So why on earth did Derby fail to reinforce Cocu’s squad with a razor-sharp 29-year-old, a red-blooded penalty-box predator?
According to The Athletic, Cocu wanted Dursun to replace the departing Chris Martin in the summer of 2020. His Derby bosses, however, placed Dursun on the backburner until January, in the hope that the Darmstadt talisman would be available for a smaller fee in the winter.
Reports in Germany, via Hessenchau, claim that Derby actually made three bids, including one worth £1 million, but failed to meet Darmstadt’s asking price.
Flash forward to January and Cocu was gone – and so were Derby’s chances of bringing Dursun to Pride Park.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
