Derby County set to win transfer battle for Liverpool player as John Eustace factor revealed | OneFootball

The manager has played a huge role in the progress of this seemingly imminent signing.

Derby County are closing in on the signing of Liverpool left-back Owen Beck, beating off strong competition to his signature.

The pull of John Eustace has been extremely evident this summer. Pride Park has already welcomed a couple of players - Danny Batth and Andi Weimann - that the 45-year-old worked with in his previous role at Blackburn Rovers.

A third such player is now set to be added to that list, with Beck, a player that Eustace brought to Ewood Park on loan last season, now set to link up with his old boss again, this time with the Rams.

The Telegraph's John Percy has reported that County are on the verge of signing the Liverpool youngster on a season-long loan deal. A medical is expected to take place later this week after the two clubs reached an agreement on a deal that'll send the 22-year-old to Derbyshire for the upcoming term.

Derby County set to land the services of Liverpool defender Owen Beck

Derby were not the only ones who wanted to sign Beck. According to The Athletic, Premier League clubs were interested in taking the Wales under-21 international for the season.

His hometown club Wrexham were also linked with the left-back, however they pivoted to New Zealand's Liberato Cacace to plug the gap in Phil Parkinson's team that Beck potentially would have.

Rangers, too, were reportedly interested in signing the Liverpool academy product, but the pull of getting to work with Eustace again proved to be a deciding factor for the player, as per Percy.

His impressive loan spell with Blackburn last time out was cut short by a hamstring injury that he picked up at the end of March. Performances prior to this horrible news were strong. He helped Rovers keep eight clean sheets in 24 appearances.

Owen Beck should be a perfect fit for Derby County

One of the biggest positive poi nts about this move for Derby, other than him choosing them over the other interested clubs, is his immediate ability to fit into Eustace's system.

It's one that he will know inside out at this point, and with less than three weeks to go until the start of the new Championship season, that's great news for County.

Beck's attacking output is certainly something that he can look to work on. Only one goal and zero assists last season isn't a great offensive output for a full-back to make, especially in today's game.

The hope will be that the Rams won't be as close to a relegation fight next season and should therefore have more opportunities to get forward.