Derby County are struggling to ‘future-proof’ their squad according to figures release in a recent report.
According to a CIES Football Observatory report, the Rams rank second-bottom of the Championship, with only Sheffield Wednesday below them, on this single metric.
The report ranks from 37 leagues around the world according to the percentage of ‘minutes secured’ – that is ‘the share of the current season’s domestic league minutes played by footballers still under contract with a duration beyond the year 2026.’
The idea is that players on longer contracts retain sale value and also bring a stability to the team if they are good enough to be regularly selected.
The overall best is Chelsea, who give an impressive 91.8% of minutes to players with more than one full season left on their deals. The Championship best is Coventry City with 86.2%, while the Rams come in at just 31%.
That means more than two-thirds of their minutes are played by players who might not even be at Pride Park by the end of next season.
The Sky Blues benefit from the fact they do not field any loan players and therefore avoid giving valuable experience to other clubs’ players. The Rams give the third most minutes to loanees, 18.5% behind Burnley and Stoke at 21.7% and 20.7% respectively.
As things stand Jerry Yates, Marcus Harness, Nat Phillips and Harrison Armstrong are all regulars in the first team and are all set to return to their parent clubs at the end of the season, as is David Ozoh who has had an injury-blighted campaign.
The Rams also have several players whose contacts are up in the summer, including Matt Clarke, Kemar Roofe, Kane Wilson, Tom Barkhuizen, Liam Thompson, Conor Washington and Craig Forsyth – several of whom have played extensive minutes.
A host of other players’ deals are up at the end of next season, although key players like Jacob Widell Zetterstom, Ebou Adams and Ryan Nyambe are tied down until 2027, as is new arrival Lars-Jorgen Salvesen.
The Rams’ squad building – and future proofing – has been made more difficult by the size of their budget, David Clowes has made no secret of his desire to bring fresh investment to the club.
There is also the fact they were promoted from League One last season and are in danger of returning to it this term.
Of course the benefits of not having players on long contracts is that a club is not saddled with burdensome commitments, but that does offset against transfer values, which diminish as contacts run down.
One thing for sure is that whatever division the Rams are in next season, John Eustace will have a big rebuild on his hands and will need resources and expertise within the recruitment department to do it.
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