Derby County have experienced an eventful last few days in the transfer window with Eiran Cashin leaving Pride Park behind for Brighton and Hove Albion, only for the Rams to then pick up Norwegian star Sondre Langas to immediately plug that gap.
Rams supporters will hope this isn’t the only notable addition in through the door before 11pm hits, however, with some more positive last-gasp deals no doubt helping Paul Warne’s side in their mission to stay up in the Championship.
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They could gain their wish if this switch takes place in time, with the relegation-threatened outfit now making contact with a club higher up the second tier standings.
Derby make approach over last-gasp loan signing
As per journalist Darren Witcoop via his X account, Derby could be busy late into the day in attempting to snap up West Bromwich Albion attacker Karlan Grant, having already made contact with an approach for the forward.
Witcoop did reveal that this loan deal would be unlikely to take place unless the Baggies won a replacement, but with Tony Mowbray’s men edging ever closer to winning Randers FC forward Tammer Bany in a £3.3m move, Grant could be now allowed to move away from the Hawthorns in a last-gasp switch.
Derby fans would love to have Grant on their books with the 27-year-old forward impressing last campaign when making a loan detour to Cardiff City, alongside the fact he has done enough across his career to date to be deemed as an upgrade on main Rams centre-forward Jerry Yates.
What Grant could offer Derby
Even if he is offloaded at the death of the window, Grant had managed to breathe life back into his Baggies playing days after once being frozen out of the first team picture.
Indeed, the experienced EFL attacker has helped himself to a reasonable goal haul of six strikes from 29 Championship appearances this season, with Derby not turning their noses up whatsoever at winning a forward player who has impressed near the top of the division to help in their battle against relegation.
The Baggies’ loss here could end up being Derby’s major gain, therefore, with Grant now up to 53 second tier goals in total across his varied career off the back of those bright displays.
In contrast, Yates – who regularly leads the line for Warne’s men as their standout marksman – falls short of that career amount by 16 strikes with just a meagre two goals coming his way across his last 13 league appearances not exactly helping Derby’s relegation cause as they continue to slip into a bleak dogfight.
Stat
Grant
Yates
Games played
29
27
Games started
24
27
Goals scored
6
6
Assists
2
3
Goal frequency
338 mins
372 mins
Big chances missed
4
9
Big chances created
7
2
As can be seen glancing at the table above, whilst the Derby number ten does boast one more goal contribution this campaign, the underlying metrics do suggest that Grant is having a better season overall than his ex-Blackpool counterpart, with far fewer big chances squandered on top of also potentially offering more as a creative presence.
Moreover, Grant’s “versatile” nature – which he has been praised for in the past by pundit Carlton Palmer – means Warne can throw the 27-year-old into his Derby XIs moving forward down the wings too, away from simply relying on him to score the crucial goals to keep his low-on-confidence group afloat.
At this point in time, Warne needs any form of freshness he can inject into his group to try and get them out of their current dire predicament, with Grant one loan buy that might well inspire his side to clinch safety.
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ByStephan GeorgiouFeb 3, 2025
