Rams put a high price on starlet Kaide
THERE is serious interest from Premier League clubs in Derby County’s talented youngster Kaide Gordon.
Reports have said the 16-year-old is being closely monitored by Manchester United and Liverpool, and that the player could leave this month for a seven-figure fee plus add-ons.
Gordon will only leave if the fee is right and Derby are believed to be thinking in multiple millions, it is understood.
Gordon, who is still at school, cannot sign a professional contract until this summer. If a club, or clubs, want to come in for him then Derby would be due significant compensation, whether he has signed a contract or not, because they have developed the player from a young age.
An example of this was Liam Delap, the son of former Rams, Southampton and Stoke City player Rory Delap.
Liam Delap joined Manchester City at the age of 16 in the summer of 2019, having been part of Derby’s Academy since the age of seven.
Derby received compensation but the amount of compensation for Gordon is likely to be far greater as he has already played for the first team. Delap did not make a firstteam appearance for Derby.
Gordon, an attacking midfielder, made his senior debut as a substitute in the 4-0 victory over Birmingham City on December 29. In doing so, he became the fourth-youngest player in the club’s history.
He was named academy player of the year last season and is a current England Under-16 international.
News of firm interest in Gordon comes as CEO Stephen Pearce responded to fears the club would have to sell its young talent as concerns grow about the short-term cash flow at the club.
Players are yet to be paid the remainder of their wages for December as they await a takeover deal to go through.
In an interview with BBC Radio Derby, Pearce said: “Not necessarily to keep going, but as a Championship club and as with our business model, we have to trade.
“That is what you have to do in this market, but what we want to make sure is that whenever we trade it makes sense for us financially and it is in our plan, and that we are using it not to make a dent in the squad for the worse but we are doing it for reasons that were in our transfer strategy.
“If the right deals come along and for the right players that we plan to do that for, then we would trade but we would obviously make sure and try not to impact on the pitch and on the playing squad.
“It is a fact of life, Covid or no Covid, that as a club we have to generate assets to sell and that is our business plan on a normal daily basis.”