Exclusive: Derby County pursue deal for Championship free agent, John Eustace wants to make ‘real inroads’ this summer
Derby County are preparing for a second successive Championship season, and John Eustace has clear ambitions to ensure that his team are not involved in the scrap for survival again in 2025/26.
The Rams are already interested in bringing Nat Phillips back to Pride Park this summer, and with eight permanent members of the squad departing at the end of their contracts, there is plenty of room to bring in new faces.
CEO Stephen Pearce revealed Derby’s transfer plans on Monday evening, and supporters will have to wait to see their clubs spend the big bucks on marquee signings, but work looks to already be starting in DE24 on building a team capable of pushing up the table.
Since Eustace left Blackburn Rovers for the Rams in February, there have been plenty of questions about if any of those who were close to the 45-year-old at Ewood Park will follow him to his new club in the summer, and plenty of changes are in order in the East Midlands this summer.
Derby County set their sights on Andreas Weimann as John Eustace seeks major changes to his squad
As first reported by Derbyshire Live, Andreas Weimann is being targeted by Derby this summer, and EFL Analysis can confirm that the Rams have set their eyes on the versatile attacker as part of John Eustace’s plans to make significant changes at Pride Park.
He missed the end of the 2024/25 campaign through injury, but his influence on the team before then was clear to see, and he played a huge role in helping to push Blackburn into the play-off places, with the Rams now interested in seeing him return to the East Midlands,
He has already spent time at Derby in the past, playing 88 games for the club over a three year period before departing for Bristol City where he excelled. Danny Batth is also reportedly a target of the Rams, but it seems at this point that Weimann is further up the list.
Transfer guru Graeme Bailey has exclusively told EFL Analysis: “I do see the Weimann one more than Batth. I do know Eustace likes Andi Weimann. So that’s not a surprise to be honest. I think there’s a fair chance Weimann and Derby has real legs.
“We have to remember Eustace is working on a budget there, but I think he’s working on a budget to the point where, although he’s not going to rework the whole squad, I think he does want to make some real inroads with that squad this summer.”
The Rams never saw the best of the retired Austria international, but he has proven his quality in the years since departing in 2018 and after scoring seven goals in 30 games for Rovers this season, he would be a shrewd signing.
John Eustace needs more goals in his team
After coming so close to relegation to League One, Derby have to find goal scorers quickly and this does not just mean from their strikers.
With Jerry Yates unlikely to return to the Rams, there will be a particular focus on finding a new number nine but while the squad is being built, players like Weimann will be even more important to bring goals throughout the rest of the team.
He has plenty of experience in this division and is also a step-up from what Eustace already has at his disposal, which fits into the Rams’ head coach’s plan for the transfer window.
If the 33-year-old can come back from his knee injury in a similar vein of form to what he was already in, then there is no doubt that Derby would be in a stronger position than what they would be without signing the attacking midfielder.
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