It has been a season marked with average results for Derby County in the Championship this season. At some points, they did yield eye-catchy performances and aspired to earn a playoff spot but stagnated in patches and no wonder they fell off the race for the top-six spots. With 66 points, the Rams are placed 9th on the league chart after 45 outings and would have to endure yet another season in the second division. Undoubtedly, they must construct something promising next time around.
Under the tutelage of Gary Rowett, who was appointed as the successor to Steve McLaren in March, Derby County are yet to achieve consistency, although the jury is still out to pen down his achievements owing to his brief period at the helm of the Pride Park Stadium. It goes impliedly that Rowett would be keen to bolster his squad in the summer and defence would be one of the primary areas of focus for the former Birmingham City manager. He must have started to assess his targets and do the backstage work to pencil some shrewd deals.
One of the latest reports have stated that Derby County are plotting a move for Liverpool’s young sensation, Andre Wisdom. The 23-year-old was shipped to Austrian Bundesliga outfit, Red Bull Salzburg, in the summer transfer window of 2016 to get some game time under his belt and prove his mettle. Wisdom has garnered 20 appearances so far and has been decent at the back for Salzburg, thus, no wonder why Derby County are reported to make him put his pen to the contract paper. A youngster who is capable enough of playing as a centre back as well as a right back, he has calibre worth having in the side for a club like Derby County.
A youth product of Liverpool, Wisdom is a pretty resilient and reliable customer at the back. He belongs to the brand of defenders who never refrains from getting into tight areas, creates spaces for his teammates by occasionally jetting forward, has a handsome pace to track back and plays a safe game more often than not. He has the power to lend him an upper hand in one-on-one ground duels, earns plenty of success in the aerial duels and thrives on positional awareness with relative ease. Besides, Derby County won’t really have to loosen their purse to a huge extent and considering his age, he is seemingly likely to only get better with time.
