Where trio moved after Rams stays
SPANISH players Raul Albentosa and Omar Mascarell, along with Belgian Julien de Sart, all had spells with Derby County.
Albentosa was a permanent signing, Mascarell and de Sart were loan signings. They made 50 appearances between them.
Here we take a look at what happened to them next.
RAUL ALBENTOSA
Derby County fought off competition from a number of clubs to sign Albentosa in January 2015.
The Spanish defender joined the Rams on a two-and-a-half year deal after his departure from Eibar. He had caught the eye following a string of strong performances in La Liga.
Albentosa, 26 at the time, said on signing: “A friend of mine, Jota, plays over here for Brentford and he spoke a lot about Derby and the Championship and he spoke with great enthusiasm.
“It has always been a dream of mine to come and play in England and I am going to do everything to say thank you to the people that brought me here and gave me this chance.”
Albentosa’s debut for Derby came in the FA Cup fourth round victory over Chesterfield but he was replaced at half-time. He didn’t feature again until March in a 2-2 draw with Birmingham City.
He made nine appearances before returning to Spain on a season-long loan with Malaga in 2015-16.
Another Spanish club, Deportivo La Coruna, signed Albentosa from Derby in the summer of 2016 for a reported fee of £1m plus add-ons.
There was a loan spell at Gimnastic before he joined CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria and then Romanian side Dinamo Bucuresti on loan earlier this year.
The 33-year-old is currently without a club.
OMAR MASCARELL
The Spain youth international joined Derby County on a seasonlong loan from Real Madrid in August 2014.
Rams manager at the time Steve McClaren said: “He is a talented young player and I have monitored his progress for a number of years after first coming to my attention while in Holland at Twente.
“Our Head of Football Operations Chris Evans has worked tirelessly to get this deal over the line and spent a few days in Spain thrashing out a deal with Real Madrid.”
Mascarell was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. He signed for Real Madrid’s youth system at 17 and made his La Liga debut when he replaced Mesut Ozil late into a 4-2 home victory over CA Osasuna in June 2013.
His debut for Derby was also as a substitute, against Rotherham United, and he made 30 appearances in 2014-15.
A season-long loan to Sporting Gijon followed in 2015-16 and he signed for German club Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer of 2016 on a three-year deal. He played 45 times for them and then joined Schalke 04 in June 2018, playing 71 times.
His contract with Schalke was terminated by mutual consent in the summer and the 28-year-old is now playing for Spanish La Liga side Elche CF.
JULIEN DE SART
The midfielder was 22 when he joined Derby County on loan from Middlesbrough in January 2017.
His debut came in an FA Cup third round tie against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns. Goals from Darren Bent and Tom Ince gave Derby a 2-1 win.
De Sart lined up in the holding/ controlling position in the middle of the park and in front of the back four – a specialist role and a key cog in Steve McClaren’s 4-3-3.
However, he struggled in his next game, away to Leeds United, and was replaced at half-time.
He made 11 appearances for the Rams and scored once, in a 4-3 home defeat by Cardiff City.
De Sart returned to Middlesbrough at the end of the season and spent 2017-18 on loan with Belgian Pro League side Zulte Waregem before a permanent move to KV Kortrijk followed in August 2018.
He scored 10 goals in 83 games for Kortrijk and the 26-year-old is now with Gent, joining them in the summer on a three-year deal.