Significant hurdle in £1.4m Derby County transfer deal revealed | OneFootball

The Rams have been on the hunt for a goalkeeper since they released Joe Wildsmith.

Derby County's deal for Swedish goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom is being delayed by upcoming games that he will play for his current club, Djurgardens.

The current crop of Rams goalkeepers is very thin - with just a couple of weeks away from the start of Derby's first season back in the Championship, they only have one recognised first-team goalkeeper on their books in the form of Josh Vickers.

Adding a shot-stopper is high on Paul Warne's list this summer. County have been linked with former Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion keeper Mathew Ryan, but he has now joined AS Roma. Leicester City's Daniel Iversen has been named as an option, but the two Midlands-based clubs are said to be apart on his valuation.

Former Fulham glovesman, and current free agent, Marek Rodak was also mentioned as a prospective candidate too, among with a host of other second tier English sides.

Widell Zetterstrom - who Wolves expressed interest in - became the club's preferred option though, with Swedish outlet Expressen reporting that they had reached an agreement with Djurgardens for a £1.43 million package for the 26-year-old.

Now, though, there appears to be a delay in the process to bring the towering stopper to Pride Park.

Complications emerge in Derby County, Widell Zetterstrom transfer deal

Last Friday, Paul Warne said that they had their eye on a shot-stopper, but that there were hurdles that they needed to get over in order to seal the deal. "There’s been a target in mind for weeks now but, there’s a complication to it which will become very evident once he signs hopefully, but if not we have to persevere with another target," said the Derby boss, via Dominic Dietrich.

Now, Dietrich has stated that the complication that Warne was talking about was to do with the Swedish keeper.

Widell Zetterstrom is set to play his side's next two Europa Conference League qualifying matches, which take place this Thursday (25th July) and next Thursday (1st August).

He won't be able to join Derby until after then, according to the BBC Derby journalist, meaning he will have around a week, at most, to prepare and ingratiate himself ahead of County's opening game of the season against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

The timing of it also means that he may not play a single pre-season game for the club before that trip to Lancashire, which is far from ideal for a seven-figure addition.

This is potentially the biggest season in a long time for the Rams. If they are able to solidify themselves as a second tier side, the future at Pride Park will look so much brighter.

The way that you don't want to start that important campaign is by having a key part of the team that has little to no chemistry or understanding of his teammates.

The one thing that Derby shouldn't have to worry about too much with Widell Zetterstrom, if the deal goes ahead as seemingly planned, is his match sharpness.

While County players have been resting and then regaining fitness over the summer, the keeper has been playing in the Swedish top division.

Even though he will be match-sharp, Warne not having a key member of his squad potentially less than a week before the season gets underway is not ideal at all.