Derby County fans will be counting down the days now until Championship football is back on the menu for the Rams, with a visit to Blackburn Rovers kickstarting what many will hope is a positive campaign competing again in the second tier.
Paul Warne masterminded a return back to this promised land to the relief of everyone with connections to Derby last season, clinching that final automatic promotion place alongside Portsmouth, but all the glory of that special day will feel like a distant memory now.
Derby have gone about their business effectively in the summer transfer window to date, in order to strengthen the squad ahead of the challenges to come moving up a division, with the arrivals of Jerry Yates and Kayden Jackson adding in experience and nous up top, whilst out-there signings such as Kenzo Goudmijn joining from the Netherlands shows the new pull the Rams have.
There were even murmurs that Malcolm Ebiowei could be joining Crystal Palace loanee David Ozoh in through the door at Pride Park, but that looks like one signing that won’t materialise.
Malcolm Ebiowei’s return to Derby
The rumour mill went into overdrive when Ozoh put pen to paper on a loan switch to Derbyshire, with former Rams man Ebiowei – who is now on the books at the Eagles – wishing him well on his new adventure in the Championship on social media.
That sparked rumours that the ex-Derby youth product could be making a dramatic return on loan, but football journalist Alan Nixon set the record straight, by confirming that no such reunion was in store, with no contact ever occurring between the two parties in the first place.
Oxford United have since snapped up the Palace man on a season-long loan, with Derby setting their sights elsewhere when it comes to further additions to boost the attack Warne has at his disposal.
The newly promoted outfit have been linked with this skilful ace in the past, who lit up League One with his magical displays for Blackpool just campaign, with a hunger perhaps coming from this winger now to show he can equally strut his stuff up a division with Warne’s side.
Derby could land “magic” Ebiowei alternative
Earlier this month, it was reported that Derby were keen on adding current Brest attacker Karamoko Dembele to their squad, as per journalist Darren Witcoop.
No such move has really accelerated into motion just yet, but with Oxford – who were promoted up to the Championship with Derby – winning the services of Ebiowei, that could make the Rams want to push ahead and sign Dembele away from putting in just one bid, in order to gain an upper-hand over a team who could be a relegation rival.
| Dembele’s League One numbers for Blackpool (23/24) | |
|---|---|
| Stat – per 90 mins* | Dembele |
| Games played | 39 |
| Goals scored | 8 |
| Assists | 13 |
| Shots* | 1.3 |
| Key passes* | 2.0 |
| Big chances missed | 0 |
| Big chances created | 15 |
| Stats by Sofascore | |
The ex-Celtic youngster would even be described as possessing “magic in his feet” by Tangerines boss Neil Critchley based on his dynamite season in the third tier, with a mightily impressive 15 big chances created across his impactful 39 games.
To add context, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing created just five more for the promotion winners, with Dembele potentially adding to the Rams’ flair in attack next season if signed.
Ebiowei, on the other hand, has never quite come alive in the men’s game in a similar way to Dembele, with his time at Derby in the first-team seeing him pick up just one goal and two assists in the Championship, across two campaigns, while he also provided no goals and only one assist for Belgian side RWD Molenbeek last season.
That early Rams form would still win him a major move to Palace, with the talk surrounding Ebiowei returning to Derby potentially sparked by the fact the 20-year-old perhaps felt as if he had unfinished business at Pride Park to attend to, after leaving somewhat prematurely in 2022.
Alas, it is at the Kassam Stadium where his short-term future lies.
Still, if Derby can win Dembele this window – who scored strikes like the one above for the Tangerines on a regular basis last season – Ebiowei will simply just be forgotten about again.
