Derby County set for blow as player talks unlikely to materialise into fresh agreement | OneFootball

Derby County are expected to lose Jack Marriott on a free transfer this summer.

The club revealed yesterday that they had failed to extend Marriott’s contract into the summer of 2022 despite previous efforts, but talks have been ongoing since January as they look to address that and tie the striker down.

Nevertheless, Marriott, who has been with the club since the summer of 2018, is widely expected to move onto a new challenge heading into the 2021/22 campaign.

As per a report from The Athletic, there’s a ‘strong feeling’ that Marriott will seek a fresh opportunity away from Pride Park, despite the ongoing contract discussions between player and club.

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The 26-year-old struck 10 Championship goals and registered four assists during his first season with the Rams, including a brace in the play-off semi-final second leg win at Leeds United.

However, despite Marriott scoring again at Wembley, Derby missed out on promotion and have been on the slide since then.

Marriott scored only two league goals in 2019/20 and wasn’t really fancied by Phillip Cocu. A loan to Sheffield Wednesday followed, but injuries have impacted Marriott and he failed to score a goal in 2020/21.

Wayne Rooney has, in the meantime, replaced Cocu at Pride Park and kept Derby in the Championship last season at the expense of Marriott’s loan club.

The Verdict

When you think about it, it isn’t really a surprise that Marriott might be moving on this summer.

When he moved from Peterborough to Derby, it looked a really good opportunity for him to go and play under Frank Lampard.

However, since then a lot has changed at Derby. They are well done the line with a different manager and Marriott’s importance has slowly faded.

Elsewhere, he might get a better chance of regular games, under a manager that truly fancies giving him game time.

Thoughts? Let us know!