Derby County may have 2019 regret after watching Euro 2024: View | OneFootball

The Slovenian left the Rams in 2019 after making just three appearances.

Highlights

Slovenia's national team came close to springing one of the biggest surprises in European Championship history in their round of 16 game against Portugal at Euro 2024, and despite falling short on penalties, those involved will go down as heroes in their country.

Derby County supporters will be extremely familiar with one of the players that took the 2016 winners all the way on Monday, with Timi Max Elšnik, a former Ram, playing 105 minutes of the knockout game, before being substituted for Josip Iličić during half-time of extra-time.

The 26-year-old currently plays for Olimpija Ljubljana in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, captaining the side while also racking up 158 appearances in all competitions.

Elšnik is about to enter his sixth season with Olimpija Ljubljana, and already has a league title to his name, having won the division in 2022/23. That season saw the ex-Derby midfielder do the double with his teammates, lifting the Slovenian Football Cup for the second time in just three years.

However, after going on to such great success, Derby fans may be confused about why they let him go, and if his impact while playing in his home nation could have been repeated in England if he stayed at Pride Park.

Elšnik's Derby career never truly materialised

The Sloveninan joined the Rams at the start of the 2015/16 season as a scholar, however, his superb performances for the U18s side earned him a place in the U21s team in his first year with the club.

His talent was noticeable, as he helped his the young Derby team to the Premier League Division 2 title, earning promotion to the newly-branded Premier League 2 for the 2016/17 campaign.

Elšnik impressed incoming manager Nigel Pearson, and was given the opportunity to feature in the senior squad twice at the age of 18.

He made his debut in the second round of the EFL Cup against Carlisle United, coming on with less than 20 minutes left in the tie. The Rams looked to be heading into the next round until a 95th minute equaliser from Mike Jones took the game to extra-time and eventually penalties. Elšnik scored both of hit spot-kicks, including the winner, as Derby went through, beating Carlisle in the shootout 14-13 after 32 penalties were taken.

A week earlier Elšnik had signed a new three-year contract at Pride Park, extending his stay in the East Midlands to 2019, after impressing as the club's Scholar of the Year at the end of the 2016/17 season.

A short cameo against Liverpool in the next round was the last time he featured for the senior side in that season, as the Rams crashed out in a 3-0 defeat. It took another year for the young midfielder to get another taste of the first-team, playing in the same competition in a 1-0 win away to Grimsby Town.

Despite his consistent form for the U21s and U23s, Elšnik struggled to breakthrough into the senior squad and instead spent time away from DE24 on loan at Northampton Town, Mansfield Town and Swindon Town.

At these three clubs he got his first taste of league football, yet, on his return to Derby after each loan he was no closer to the first-team.

Therefore, at the end of his contract, Elšnik was released by the Rams with both parties leaving on good terms. In January 2020 he moved to Ljubljana, and has gone on to be come a club legend in just four years in the Slovenian captial.

Euro 2024 has announced him on the international stage

Contrary to his woes in England, Elšnik has come on leaps and bounds in the last four years, earning his first cap for his nation in October 2021, at the age of just 23.

Since his debut, he has captained Slovenia once, while earning 18 more caps, scoring his first goal against Portugal in March 2024.

He is now an imperative part of the team, and was crucial in their qualification games for this year's European Championships, featuring in all but two of the games.

In Germany, he helped Slovenia to the round of 16, the first time that the country has ever achieved this level of success in an international tournament. They did not lose a game throughout the competition in 90 minutes, drawing all three of their group games against Denmark, England and Serbia - scoring their first goal in the Euros since 2000 against the Danes.

Elšnik claimed an assist from the tournament, crossing into Žan Karničnik to open the scoring against Serbia in an eventual 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena.

Slovenia qualified as one of the best third placed finishers for the round of 16, and took Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal to penalties with the two sides unable to break the deadlock. However, the former Derby midfielder suffered heartbreak as the Portuguese ran out 3-0 winners in the shootout.

With Elšnik linked with Premier League sides Leicester City and Southampton after a fantastic Euros, many Rams fans will be mythed as to how they let such a talented player slip through the cracks. The 26-year-old has now delivered on the international stage, despite being offered only a small amount of action during his time at Pride Park.

Had Derby held out, they may just have had a player ready-made from their own training ground. Yet it can be argued that his potential was not there to be seen during his time in black-and-white and perhaps the late blooming of Elšnik could not have been forseen.