Exclusive: Cardiff City figure set for potential Derby County move | OneFootball

The Bluebirds could be set to lose a key member of the club's hierarchy to the Rams, FLW can exclusively reveal.

Cardiff City's head of recruitment Patrick Deboys is in talks to join Derby County as the club's director of sport, sources have exclusively told Football League World.

The 31-year-old has been working as the Bluebirds' head of recruitment since the spring of 2023, taking over the reins from Kevin Beadell.

He's been attempting to implement a new transfer philosophy at the Cardiff City Stadium ever since stepping into the role, with an emphasis on signing young players for smaller fees, with the hope that the club can sell them on for significant profit in the future.

Cardiff City head of recruitment Patrick Deboys in talks over Derby County switch

Football League World can exclusively reveal that Cardiff City's head of recruitment, Deboys, is in discussions with Derby over joining the Rams as their new director of sport.

As per Derby's club website, the Rams do not currently employ a director of sport, meaning Deboys would appear set to expand the club's hierarchy should he be offered, and indeed accept, this new position.

As per his LinkedIn account, Deboys has been with the Bluebirds for over a decade, having joined the club back in January 2015 as a first team performance analyst intern.

From there, he worked his way up into a permanent first team performance analyst role, before going on to become the club's lead recruitment analyst in January 2019.

He was appointed as Cardiff's head of recruitment in April 2023, which is the role he's been working in ever since.

Omer Riza's side find themselves firmly embroiled in a relegation battle at the foot of the Championship heading into the final weeks of the season.

There have been numerous reasons as to why Cardiff's campaign has followed the trajectory it has, with the lack of impact from their new recruits being one of them.

Headline arrivals such as Chris Willock, Roko Simic, William Fish and Jesper Daland have struggled to hit the ground running for the Bluebirds this season, whilst Wilfried Kanga's loan deal was terminated in January after the striker failed to score or provide an assist in 15 Championship appearances.

Therefore, should Deboys depart the club, then whoever comes in to replace him will need to improve upon Cardiff's recent transfer business, otherwise the club may find progression difficult to achieve.