Why Derby County want to seal Birmingham City transfer agreement - there are 3 clear reasons | OneFootball

Derby County are interested in Birmingham City's Dion Sanderson, which would see the defender reunite with John Eustace.

Derby County are preparing for John Eustace’s first full season in charge after he kept them in the Championship following his appointment in February.

Even though the relegation battle went to the final day, the Rams did enough to stay above the bottom three, and it was down to a very impressive run of form under Eustace.

So, Derby will head into the 2025/26 campaign with real optimism, and the challenge for the board is to back the boss as much as possible over the coming months.

Derby County target Dion Sanderson transfer deal

And, one player currently believed to be on Derby's radar is Birmingham defender Dion Sanderson, according to a recent report from The Sun journalist Alan Nixon.

The 25-year-old centre-back is currently contracted to Birmingham City, but he has struggled for game time with the League One champions, which is why he spent the second half of the previous season with Blackburn.

A summer departure is now on the cards, and it appears Sanderson could reunite with Eustace at Pride Park - and here we look at THREE reasons why Derby are trying to get this deal done…

John Eustace knows his qualities

As touched on above, Sanderson has a good relationship with Eustace, as he played for him at Birmingham, and the boss brought him to Ewood Park in the January window.

That proves he clearly rates the defender, so it makes sense that Derby will do all they can to back the manager in the window.

Furthermore, having worked with the 25-year-old, Eustace will know about his character and personality, as well as what he offers on the pitch.

That makes this a low-risk move, and whilst Sanderson’s career has stalled somewhat in the past two years, Eustace should have enough trust at Derby to get this over the line if he thinks the signing will help the team.

It's worth noting that Eustace has signed Sanderson on two separate occassions already with Birmingham and Blackburn respectively, while they also worked with each other during the now-Rams boss' time as assistant at QPR.

The £1m fee is reasonable

Derby aren’t going to be in a position to splash huge sums this summer, so they need to be careful with whatever budget they have.

However, the reported £1m that would be required to sign Sanderson seems reasonable in the market today.

This is a player who has plenty of Championship experience, he is capable of playing in a three or a four, and he will bring leadership qualities, evident by the fact he had the armband at Birmingham previously.

So, he ticks a lot of boxes, and it would be hard for £1m, it’s a move that could turn out to be a bargain for the Rams.

He is approaching his peak years

Finally, Sanderson is a signing that is made for the future in mind as well.

He may not be a youngster, but at 25, Sanderson is approaching his peak years, and there’s no reason why he won’t be at Pride Park for the next 5-10 years.

Part of the remit for Eustace will be to lower the age of the squad at Derby, and to build a group that can kick-on together over the next few years, and Sanderson could be an integral part of that.