"Likely be £500k or £1m" - Derby County: David Clowes, January transfer prediction made | OneFootball

The Rams are not expected to spend big in the new year

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...

Derby County have been forecast to make some slight tweaks to their squad in the January window but not bring in any high-profile additions for sizable fees.

The Rams have had a decent start to the new season, with Paul Warne leading them to mid-table in the Championship at the start of November, despite the club being largely tipped to struggle near the bottom before the campaign kicked off.

Derby have never been the biggest spenders in the second tier but they did make some investments in the summer ahead of their return to the Championship, as the likes of Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, Kenzo Goudmijn, and Ebou Adams all arrived at Pride Park on permanent deals for respective fees.

As a result, it does seem unlikely that owner David Clowes will give boss Warne too much transfer money to play with in the new year, yet some will surely have to be put towards new additions as they look to stay away from danger throughout the rest of this term.

Derby fan pundit predicts little investment in the January window

David Clowes has been hailed as the man that saved Derby as he took over last year from Mel Morris, and he has endeared himself even further to supporters through some key decisions that gave them a great chance of promotion last season, such as hiring Paul Warne.

Clowes is yet to spend particularly frivolously in the transfer market as owner just yet, though, and FLW's Derby fan pundit Shaun Woodward believes that he will continue to make a modest purse available in the new year to Paul Warne after he was asked if he expects him to back the club in the January transfer window with funds.

“David Clowes will, I’m sure, make some funds available for Paul Warne, but I don’t think it’s going to be mega money," Shaun told FLW.

“I think we will look at maybe adding one or two players, depending on injuries.

“I just don’t think we are going to go out and spend £4 million or £5 million on a player.

“I think it’ll more likely be £500,000 or £1 million if there is someone that Paul Warne wants that no one else is going to come in for.

“The problem is that we can’t outbid teams. Warne is going to have to be very cagey and a bit quiet about who he wants because as soon as someone else goes in, they are likely to outbid us.

“I can’t see Clowes splashing the cash, but I do think he will make some funds available. It just won't be very much.

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“It also depends on where we are in the table. If we are still mid-table and relatively safe, then there is no need to go and panic and make silly buys.

“Even if we are just above the drop zone, then you have still got to be sensible, trust the players we’ve got, and just add one or two for a bit of quality.”

Derby fans will want to see some money spent in the January window

It goes without saying that Derby supporters will be expecting their owner to spend some funds after the turn of the year, but how much he is willing to put into Warne's transfer kitty remains to be seen.

Clowes oversaw the club's last January window, and despite being firmly in the hunt for promotion, they only spent £350k on a loan fee for Corey Blackett-Taylor from Charlton Athletic, and Warne was left to seek other loan deals for Ebou Adams and Max Bird, as well as explore the free agent market to bring in Dwight Gayle.

Something similar can not happen this time around, as the first few months of the campaign have seen Warne's squad be pretty stretched due to injuries to some of his key men, and they will need to make additions in the new year as a result.

David Ozoh, Ryan Nyambe, Jake Rooney, Tawanda Chirewa, and Dajaune Brown have all suffered respective issues in recent weeks, and cover must be signed when possible to make sure that Warne has the best chance of guiding his side to safety come next May.

There is also the matter of potentially turning striker Jerry Yates' loan spell into a permanent deal from Swansea City to take care of, after his excellent start to life at Pride Park that has seen him become one of the Rams' most important players, despite not being the most clinical in front of goal.

That would certainly take some money to do, given Yates cost the Swans a reported £2.5m just last summer, but if it ends up being the difference between survival and relegation, the potential fee will mean very little to all involved.