"Horrific" - Derby County fan pundit details view on five-fold transfer disaster | OneFootball

FLW has been speaking to our Derby County fan pundit to recall some of the Rams' most expensive flops in recent memory.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County's shrewd recruitment during testing times in recent transfer windows has helped the club restore their Championship status, but they haven't always been strong performers in the transfer market.

You only need to go back a few years to find the Rams spending big money on the likes of Krystian Bielik, Martyn Waghorn and Jack Marriott as just some examples.

But when and on who did Derby get their transfer spending particularly wrong? Football League World investigates...

Derby County transfer disasters

FLW's Derby County fan pundit, Shaun Woodward, recalls the Rams' forgetful history of misfiring on big money transfers, and details some of those players that cost the club more than most for a variety of reasons.

Woodward said: "It's really hard to just give you one transfer that has been massively wrong in my time as a Derby fan! I mean crikey, it seems like we've never, ever got it right when we've spent money. In my lifetime anyway.

"Matej Vydra is perhaps the exception for one season, when he was the top goalscorer in the league, but other than that, the list is endless.

"Bradley Johnson and Jacob Butterfield came in for reportedly £10m one summer when we panicked, which was horrific business for the club.

"Bielik; reportedly £10-12m, another one that was horrific for the club. And then I'll probably top it off with Ikechi Anya.

"He cost around £4-5m, played a handful of games scoring one goal, was reportedly on a massive salary, and just disappeared. Nobody really knew what happened to the boy, but literally a drain on our resources and money, and unfortunately, I think there's been a lot of players like that, that have been and gone through Derby in the last 10 years or so.

"We just really haven't got it right in the market when we've spent money. Kamil Jozwiak was another one, massive money, Raul Albentosa, I mean the list goes on.

"Whenever we've spent big, it's gone wrong. So yeah, I could probably talk to you about it all day, but I'd probably say Anya, Jozwiak, Johnson, Butterfield and Albentosa are probably the top five."

Gone are the days of Derby County parting with big transfer fees only to largely see little return on their investments. The Rams reduced spending power in recent years appears to have in a lot of ways benefited the club.

Much of their recruitment over the last few seasons has centered around loan deals and free agent signings, with both of those markets always being tricky to navigate, but Derby have largely been getting it right.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, James Collins and Tom Barkhuizen all arrived at Pride Park as free agents in the summer of 2022, and the attacking trio all played leading roles in securing promotion to the Championship last season.

Rams boss Warne has proven time and time again that he can operate with limited funds in the transfer market, having done exactly the same during his time with Rotherham.

The experience that he's built working under the pressure of largely having to operate in the loan and free agent markets from his time as a manager so far, will have no doubt sharpened his eye for hidden gems.

Ebou Adams, Corey Blackett-Taylor, Sonny Bradley and Curtis Nelson are to name just a few of the players Warne has already brought to the club for next to nothing.

Jerry Yates, Ben Osborn and Kayden Jackson all present as highly shrewd free agent additions to the side this summer, whilst Crystal Palace loanee David Ozoh was one of the standout performers in the Rams' opening day defeat at Blackburn.

Therefore, Derby County appear to have largely put those days of expensive flops behind them, with Warne's new shrewd approach in the market proving highly successful so far.