Defender Flint may be on the radar for Rooney
FORMER ALFRETON TOWN ACE COULD BE A TARGET
DERBY County have been linked with a summer swoop for defender Aden Flint, who is set to leave Cardiff City.
The 32-year-old is looking for a new club after three years in the Welsh capital. The giant central defender is from Pinxton, Derbyshire, and used to play for Alfreton Town before turning professional with Swindon Town.
According to journalist Alan Nixon, Rams boss Wayne Rooney wants to sign Flint to kickstart a transfer “revolution” at Pride Park Stadium. They claim the Rams chief has made an approach for Flint, who could join the relegated outfit if they can agree teens within their EFL pay ceiling.
Flint scored 12 goals in 93 Cardiff appearances since joining from Middlesbrough for around £4m plus add-ons in 2019.
The Rams remain under a transfer embargo due to being in administration but club officials hope to wrap up the deal as soon as possible while American businessman Chris Kirchner looks to complete his takeover of the Rams.
Central defenders Richard Stearman, Curtis Davies and Eiran Cashin will see their existing Rams deals expire this summer.
Rooney is desperate to keep popular defender Davies at Pride Park. He picked up the Player of the Year award after playing every minute of the Championship campaign.
Lee Buchanan can also feature in central defence, although he is a more natural left-sided defender.
Speaking in late April, Rams boss Rooney told Derbyshirelive that the recruitment team at Pride Park have already drawn up transfer plans for the summer having planned for both survival in the Championship as well as relegation to the third tier.
Asked what kind of player he will be targeting, Rooney said: “The best ones we can!
“We have always known there was a possibility we could be in League One, so we have done work on players, which players will fit how we play. We have profiled players for League One and the Championship, we know which players we want to bring in.
“The question is can we, whether that is from a salary point of view or players we might need to pay a little bit of money for, can we do that?
“We have got players there, we just need the answers. As I keep saying we need the takeover completed and then we can hopefully get the answers.”
Meanwhile, Rams forward Colin Kazim-richards has hinted that he will be leaving the club this summer.
The former Turkey international joined the club in 2020 and became something of a fan favourite during his time at Pride Park. He made 63 appearances for the club and scored 12 goals.
While his gametime decreased this season due to injury, he was still an important member of the Rams squad as they battled their way through a relegation scrap.
He scored three goals in 23 League games this term but it wasn’t enough to stop the team from dropping down to League One.
With several players already agreeing deals to play elsewhere next season and the summer likely to bring more changes to the playing squad, Kazim-richards has suggested that his future will not be with Derby.
The 35-year-old striker sent a message to fans on Twitter, saying: “Everything comes to pass.”