‘May be a bit of a masterstroke’ – Derby County readying offer for 29-year-old: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County are keen to reignite their interest in SV Darmstadt striker Serdar Dursun in January, according to The Athletic.

The Rams were not willing to meet the €1.1 million (£0.99m) asking price for the forward in the summer but the report claims that they are set to reopen talks and believe they can get him cheaper in the upcoming window.

But would he be a good signing for the Rams? And do they need him?

We quizzed our FLW writers on just that…

George Harbey

I like the look of this.

Derby obviously came close to signing Dursun in the summer, but Darmstadt’s asking price proved to be a stumbling block.

He now has only six months left on his contract, though, so it may be a bit of a masterstroke for Derby to get him for much cheaper next month.

His goal record in Germany, albeit in the second division, is very impressive. He has nine goals in 13 games this season and clearly knows where the goal is.

He looks to be a physically strong and powerful player, and he is the sort of focal point they need at the moment.

Chris Thorpe

I don’t see why they wouldn’t make a move for him if they are still interested, to be honest.

He has been banging in the goals in Germany and would add the potency to Derby’s play that has been found to be lacking this term.

You cannot continue to draw blanks in front of goal and expect to move out of the situation that the Rams currently find themselves in and for that reason I think Dursun is needed.

It is all dependant on who the club’s new manager will be, of course, a fact which has yet to be decided as the takeover talks rumble on into the new year.

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Toby Wilding

​I could see this being a very good signing for Derby.

The Rams have struggled badly in front of goal so far this season, and Wayne Rooney will know as well as anyone just how important it is that they address that in January, if they are to have a chance of getting out of trouble in the Championship relegation battle this season.

Given his individual record in front of goal, which has been impressive again this season – with nine in 13 league games – it does seem as though Dursun could be a more than reliable option to fill that role at Pride Park, and help fire them back towards the sort of position they would expect to be in in the table.

Indeed, with Dursun’s contract at Darmstadt set to expire at the end of this season, the striker could be available on a relatively affordable deal for Derby in January, meaning this could make sense from a financial perspective as well, meaning this does look to be worth looking into for the Rams.