Derby County: Ebou Adams and Tyrese Fornah situations will be on Paul Warne's mind | OneFootball

These two players will be high on the Rams manager's agenda

Highlights

A strong season for Derby County saw them regain their place in the Championship ahead of the 2024/24 campaign and with a fair bit of business done already, it means a lot of manager Paul Warne's focus will now be on two specific player scenarios.

The Rams finished in second place in League One last term, signalling their return to the second tier after just two seasons away.

Cardiff City's Ebou Adams impressed on loan at Pride Park last season and the jump in division should mean negotiations to bring him back in are much smoother on the player's side.

However, he unseated Tyrese Fornah in the process, who is still with Derby, likely giving Warne pause for thought as he tries to gear his squad up for the Championship challenge.

Ebou Adams

Fans are constantly told to never fall in love with a loan player, but it's hard to follow that advice when they come in and have an impact like Adams did.

Dropping down a league to help the Rams with their promotion push, he quickly established himself as the go-to figure at the base of defence and made the role his own, to the detriment of Fornah.

Before his winter loan move, Adams was struggling to come by minutes with his parent club, Cardiff, so it is little surprise that, with Derby's promotion objective complete, it is little surprise the Rams are back in for him.

Journalist Darren Witcoop confirmed that Derby are confident of bringing Adams back this summer after talks with the Welsh club.

Warne will want to get this deal tied up as soon as possible so that he can begin to plan his squad with the start of the new season just around the corner.

The departure of young midfield maestro and Derby academy product Louie Sibley, having offered him a renewed contract, will still sting for many connected with the club. The signing of Adams would be sure to lift that mood and clarify Fornah's position.

Tyrese Fornah

When a new player comes in during the winter window and makes an impact, it usually means a first-team regular somewhere will be dropping out. In the case of Adams coming in at Derby, Fornah was the man sacrificed.

Having been a regular in the first half of the season, the shift following the turn of the year was clear, appearing just four more times for a combined 37 minutes throughout 2024 so far.

Take away the addition of Adams and the rise to the Championship and there would still be questions over whether Warne trusts Fornah enough to keep him in the Rams' first-team plans. Add those two factors back in, and it opens up a real dilemma about what to do with the 24-year-old.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility for a player of Fornah's age to turn a corner and kick on, but the minutes he got to grow into the squad were limited last season, and it's difficult to see how that picture improves in the upcoming campaign.

With a year still left to run on his deal, and last season hardly putting him in the shop window, Derby may weigh up the option of cutting their losses, finding a loan deal for Fornah and then re-evaluating what works for all parties next summer.

One thing for certain, however, is that Warne will want to resolve his Fornah issue before the end of the window, as carrying an unsettled player that he feels he can't use will not help the club get through a tough transition season.