£150k Watford FC deal handed Derby County a modern-day club legend | OneFootball

The left-back has spent nearly 12 years with the Rams, and has proved to be one of their best ever bargains.

Nigel Clough's tenure at Derby County has beneffited from the gift of time, and despite his inability to make his team into a true top six Championship side, he made plenty of incredible bargain signings.

The likes of Chris Martin, Craig Bryson and Richard Keogh all joined during his tenure at Pride Park Stadium and helped shape the look of the team throughout the 2010s, before moving on for different reasons.

However, the 2013 signing of Craig Forsyth was arguably Clough's best, and nearly 12 years later, he is still plying his trade in black-and-white.

Derby have been on a rollercoaster of a journey in the decade since he first made his way through the door, but the feeling attached to the left-back has remained, and he has starred for every manager along the way.

Watford handed Derby a bargain in Craig Forsyth

Forsyth originally joined the Rams in March 2013 on loan from Watford FC as a left midfielder, a position that he would enjoy for just a few months before being converted into a full-back.

He impressed Clough throughout this loan, and later that summer he joined on a permanent deal for a reported £150,000. It was a move that went relatively under the radar at the time, but he played a huge role for the club in the 2013/14 campaign.

The arrival of Steve McClaren saw Derby rise up the table, and finish in the play-offs, although they did suffer a last minute defeat in the final to Queens Parks Rangers.

Forsyth continued to be a key part of the team at Pride Park, and he had quickly gone from a relatively unknown entity in the EFL to one of the Championship's best left-backs.

However, two ACL injuries in successive years in 2015 and 2016 threatened to derail the momentum that he had built over the course of two years at Pride Park.

Derby were forced to bring in replacements for him, with Marcus Olsson and Stephen Warnock coming in to help provide that cover, while Max Lowe started to show promise after coming through the academy.

Nevertheless, nearly immediately after he recovered on both occasions, he was back in the starting XI, and he could not be displaced as the first-choice left-back, a trend that has followed him almost to the present day.

Craig Forsyth continues to impress at Derby County

The now 35-year-old signed a new one-year contract with the Rams ahead of the 2024/25 campaign, and he has already played a part for the club as they battle for safety in the Championship.

He enjoyed his first and only promotion with Derby last season, featuring 26 times in League One as the East Midlands outfit finished second in the third tier behind Portsmouth. It was a year befitting Forsyth, and it was clear to see from the celebrations on the final day just how much it meant to him.

Now sharing responsibilities with Callum Elder, the Scottish left-back's better days are behind him, but he continues to show his class at times, and has written his name into history books as a modern-day club legend.

Forsyth is one of the most well-respected and loved players currently at Pride Park, and Derby's supporters will always be grateful to Watford for handing them a player with such longevity for a mere £150,000.