Derby County smashed it with £350k transfer - the deal may never be beaten at Pride Park | OneFootball

Craig Bryson was one of the Rams' best ever pieces of transfer business.

When Derby County signed Craig Bryson from Kilmarnock back in the summer of 2011, few people could have foreseen the impact he would go on to have at Pride Park.

The Rams parted with £350,000 to bring the midfielder south of the border, and he went on to become a crucial figure for the club throughout the 2010s.

Bryson enjoyed several impressive years in black and white, making over 250 appearances and playing a part in multiple squads that came very close to taking the club back to the Premier League.

His signing had a huge impact over several years for the East Midlands outfit, and the deal to bring him to the club surely stands as one of the club’s finest ever pieces of transfer business.

Bryson was excellent for Derby in his first few seasons

Bryson is synonymous with Derby now, given the way his career has played out, however, it could have been so different for the midfielder.

At the time of his Kilmarnock departure, Derby, Brighton, Leicester and Hull were all chasing the then-24-year-old, who had already become the captain of his side.

The Rams ultimately won the race for his services, prompting Nigel Clough to label his new man as “a leader on and off the field.”

It can often take players time to adjust to the style of football when they move to a different country, but this was no issue for Bryson, who notched six goals and three assists in his first campaign in English football.

His performances that season earned him the club’s Player of the Year award, and he was also voted as the Fans’ Player of the Year, marking the start of a glittering stint at Pride Park.

He was similarly effective for Derby in the 2012/13 season and was rewarded for his displays with a new contract at the club.

His impressive start to life at Pride Park continued in 2013/14, when Bryson posted the best numbers of his career in terms of goal contributions.

The Scotsman hit 16 league goals and 12 assists from the middle of the park, including a hat-trick in an emphatic 5-0 win over bitter rivals Nottingham Forest in March.

That treble saw him become the first Rams player to hit a hat-trick against Forest since way back in 1898.

Steve McClaren’s men finished third that season, before falling to an agonising late defeat to QPR in the Championship play-off final, however, Bryson received his just rewards for what had been a phenomenal individual campaign.

He once again claimed the club’s Player of the Year award, as well as a place in the Championship’s Team of the Season.

Bryson remained a reliable performer in the latter stages of his Derby career

Unfortunately for Bryson, he was never really able to replicate the sparkling form he showed during that campaign.

Ahead of the 2014/15 season, Derby rejected an offer from Burnley for his services, which ultimately resulted in the midfielder penning a new five-year deal to further prolong his stay at Pride Park.

However, injuries began to slip into Bryson’s game, and in the 2015/16 season, he was only able to make just 21 Championship appearances – the lowest total for a season since his debut campaign for Kilmarnock back in 2007/08.

Bryson remained a reliable performer for Derby throughout the latter stages of his time with the club, and, although he was no longer the goal threat that he had once been, he was still an important presence within the side and around the club.

Having survived several managerial changes during his time at the club, Bryson was ultimately loaned out to Cardiff City by Gary Rowett in August 2017, having struggled for gametime at the start of the season.

He returned to Derby for the 2018/19 campaign, and made 28 league appearances as Frank Lampard’s side reached the play-off final, however, it once again ended in defeat.

The midfielder was offered a new deal by the club at the end of that campaign, but rejected those terms, instead opting to head back to his homeland and sign for Aberdeen.

Bryson made just 10 combined league appearances across his two-year stint with the Dons before he eventually retired at St Johnstone in 2022.

The former Scottish international became an iconic figure at Pride Park during his eight-year stay and was always a dependable and consistent performer for the Rams.

The decision to part with £350,000 to bring him in was vindicated almost instantly in the seasons following his arrival, and over time, that deal has become more and more of a bargain.