"The right decision" - Jerry Yates, Derby County call discussed after Swansea City green-light | OneFootball

Swansea City striker Jerry Yates has joined Derby County on loan ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Highlights

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Swansea City striker Jerry Yates has joined newly-promoted Championship side Derby County on loan ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Jerry Yates was signed by Michael Duff when he joined Swansea from Blackpool last summer, having scored 14 goals in the Championship during the 2022/23 campaign as the Tangerines were relegated to League One.

Duff was sacked less than six months into his tenure, and while Yates managed to score nine goals in all competitions over the course of his debut season in Wales, it seems as though he is not part of new boss Luke Williams' plans going forward.

The 27-year-old has joined Derby on loan ahead of the 2024/25 campaign, as the Rams look to re-establish themselves in the second tier after winning automatic promotion from League One last season.

Yates started his senior career at Rotherham United, and worked under current Derby boss Paul Warne during his time with the Millers. Despite the fact that the striker was not prolific during his time at the New York Stadium, Warne clearly believes that he has developed enough since then to provide goals for his side in the Championship next season.

Swansea praised for their decision to send Yates on loan

Even though Mykola Kukharevych and Liam Cullen are the only natural strikers in Swansea's squad as things stand, Football League World's Swans fan pundit, James Fleming, believes that the club have made the right decision to send Yates on loan.

"I do believe with Jerry Yates, I think loaning him out was the right decision for us this summer," said Fleming.

"Obviously, it was not his best year with us last year. I mean, nine goals is nothing to be sniffed at, but he didn't fit in the system at all and I think a lot of goals were a lot of stuff at the back post tapping them in. You need that, absolutely, but I think there is a lot to be desired with Yates.

"I feel like loaning him out means that if he does go on to have a great season with Derby, while that will benefit a rival team in our league, it also means that we can recoup more of the money that we paid for him. It was a large fee, around £2.5m, plus we moved Kyle Joseph across to Blackpool in that deal, so it was a big risk and it's not really paid off.

"I think a loan this season is the right decision so we can hopefully get him playing again, and then, when it comes to next summer, I'm sure we'll either look to loan him again or offload him for good, especially if we sign a new striker in the coming weeks of this window."

Swansea must consider signing another forward option

Whilst it is clear from what Fleming had to say that Yates is not the right man to play up front for Swansea, they will surely need to find a replacement before the end of the summer transfer window.

Yates and Jamal Lowe were the Swans' joint-top scorers in all competitions last season with nine goals each, and both of them are no longer at the club, so Swansea should be looking for a new number nine who can produce a decent goal return in the Championship next term.

In an ideal world for Swansea, they will sign a new striker, Yates will have a good season at Derby, and the club will build further momentum under Luke Williams during a successful 2024/25 campaign.