How is ex-Derby County player Nick Blackman getting on these days? | OneFootball

It’s fair to say that Derby County have made some poor signings over the years and Nick Blackman certainly falls into that category.

The forward joined the Rams from Reading in January 2016 for around £3m, which was a decent fee at the time. The expectation was that Blackman could help fire the club to promotion but it did not go to plan.

During his time at Pride Park, Blackman failed to establish himself as a regular, making just 23 appearances across the next 18 months and he managed just one league goal in that period – which came from the penalty spot.

Therefore, a move away was to be expected but it was a surprise to see Blackman move to the Israeli top-flight to join Maccabi Tel-Aviv, where he enjoyed a fine year, scoring ten goals.

That saw another move, this time to Spanish outfit Sporting Gijon, before Blackman returned to Israel on a permanent deal.

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However, his second spell with Maccabi Tel-Aviv didn’t go to plan, with injuries restricting him to just 27 appearances in that period, where the forward managed eight goals.

When his deal expired, Blackman left the club in the summer of 2021 and it has turned out to be his last games in professional football.

Of course, injuries haven’t helped at all, and it’s a shame that he couldn’t get a run of form going to rediscover the form he showed towards the end of his time with the Royals.

For Derby, it was another investment that didn’t pay off, as they ended up letting the player leave on a free and were no doubt subsidising his wages on the various loan spells, which gave an insight into their demise.