Sale of Celtic target may be necessary for Derby County to minimise further damage in January: Opinion | OneFootball

Some things simply cannot be rushed and though the January transfer window is now bearing down on Derby County, it seems as though Chris Kirchner’s takeover deal is among those.

The American businessman has been the frontrunner to become the new Rams owner since October and has been present at a number of games at Pride Park this term, including the defeat to QPR on Monday evening.

But the wait goes on for confirmation of a takeover and it seems clubs are now circling with the hope of taking advantage if that doesn’t come before January.

FLW revealed exclusively today that a host of Premier League sides, including Crystal Palace, Everton, Leeds United, Newcastle United, and Wolves, are keen to raid the East Midlands club for some of their promising young talent in the winter window.

Max Bird, Jason Knight, Louis Sibley, and Jack Stretton are all among the players being eyed, while it is understood that the administrators have refused to rule out selling players in January to raise funds.

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Making a sale in the winter window to keep the club going may well be unavoidable if the takeover does not go through in time but the Rams should look to minimize the long-term damage by sanctioning the departure of Lee Buchanan.

The left-back has broken into the senior side in recent years but, vitally, is out of contract in the summer meaning he could leave for nothing at the end of the 2021/22 campaign anyway and there seems a good chance he will given Derby are on course to be relegated to League One this term.

Celtic are reportedly weighing up a move for him in January while Nottingham Forest are said to have had a few offers turned down in the summer, so they should be able to find a suitor.

Buchanan is an England U21 international and a player with a very bright future that no side would want to lose but cashing in on a player that may well leave anyway at the end of the season to keep the likes of Bird, Knight, Sibley, and Stretton could be a necessary move.

The sale of the 20-year-old could minimize the long-term damage done to Derby by keeping several others at Pride Park.