Derby County: Frank Lampard’s bizarre 2019 signing must never be repeated | OneFootball

The centre-back joined the Rams in February 2019 for free, but his time at Pride Park was extremely forgetful.

Frank Lampard's arrival at Derby County in May 2018 was met with plenty of excitement and expectation, despite it being his first job in management.

The Chelsea and England legend took charge of the Rams just a few weeks after Gary Rowett left the club for Stoke City, and he quickly got to work on building his squad ready for the new Championship season.

The likes of Jack Marriott, Martyn Waghorn and Scott Malone all joined the club on permanent deals, while Harry Wilson, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount dropped to the second tier on loan from the Premier League in what proved to be a breakout year for the trio.

After a solid first half of the season, Lampard made further improvements to his Derby side, but supporters will always be confused over a free transfer that was completed in February 2019.

Efe Ambrose deal was bizarre to say the least

The Rams were sat just outside the play-off places when Efe Ambrose joined the club on a free transfer, just a month after he had left Scottish Premiership side Hibernian by mutual consent.

It was a move that few, if anyone, saw coming but more cover at centre-back was never going to be turned down, and fans welcomed him to the club.

Curtis Davies had been ruled out for the season after he suffered an Achilles tendon injury against Stoke in November, and Ambrose was brought in to ensure that Derby did not suffer a crisis in defence.

However, it quickly became apparent that the then 30-year-old's involvement was going to be incredibly limited. A failure to make the matchday squad became a weekly problem, and supporters became more and more confused as time passed over whether Ambrose was ever going to feature.

He had originally joined the club on trial, and had impressed Lamaprd and his coaching staff, so it seemed bizarre that he was not able to make his way onto the bench at the very least, with Andre Wisdom the only regular option on the bench that could play in the position.

But, with Richard Keogh and Tomori showing an unbelievable level of consistency at the back, Ambrose was not able to push himself into the side, and instead, he spent the majority of his time at Derby's training ground, Moor Farm.

Derby must not repeat a deal like Ambrose's

While Ambrose was brought in to cover Davies, it was a decision that did not need to be made, with other options available if the worst was to happen to either Keogh or Tomori.

The financial hit that the Rams took would have been low, but it was still an unnecessary hit with the defender failing to make an impact at all during his time at Pride Park.

He left the club at the end of the season, and his career never truly recovered. After spending years in the Scottish Premiership, even winning the title with Celtic, he never recaptured his form and has spent the last few years bouncing around the lower leagues in Scotland and now England.

Ambrose now plys his trade for Workington in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football.

Despite the lack of opportunity at Derby, supporters will never forget his strange time at the club for all the wrong reasons.