Derby County eyeing up Blackburn Rovers defender transfer raid after double Ewood Park deal | OneFootball

Derby County are looking to reunite John Eustace with another of his former Blackburn Rovers players

Derby County are eyeing a move to sign Callum Brittain from Blackburn Rovers this summer.

According to Football Insider, John Eustace is looking to re-unite with the defender as he hopes to bolster the Rams’ first-team squad.

Brittain has been a key player for the Lancashire outfit since making the switch to Ewood Park from Barnsley in the summer of 2022.

However, the full-back is entering the final year of his current contract, which could lead to Blackburn opting to cash in on the player in order to avoid losing him for nothing in 2026 as talks over a new deal have stalled.

Derby County eye Callum Brittain deal with John Eustace wanting reunion

Derby are reportedly weighing up a move to sign Brittain from Blackburn this summer after the defender proved a key part of Eustace’s plans during his time at Ewood Park.

It remains to be seen whether Rovers would be open to a deal, but the situation surrounding his contract could force them into a sale this summer.

Eustace is keen to bolster his defensive options after leading the Rams to a 19th place finish in the Championship last season, having already added Danny Batth to his ranks from Ewood Park.

Eustace has also raided his former club for Andreas Weimann, who is starting a second stint at Pride Park, and FLW exclusively revealed in June that he's keen on Blackburn midfielder Lewis Travis too.

It’s believed that Eustace is a fan of Brittain from their time together from when he was manager at Blackburn, and is now attempting to add him to his growing squad in Derbyshire.

Brittain was a regular in the side under Eustace at Ewood Park, and he featured 33 times in the Championship in total last season, with the team finishing seventh in the table.

He contributed two goals and five assists, with the team missing out on the play-offs by just two points under Valerien Ismael.

Callum Brittain signing would be good, albeit expensive for Derby County

Eustace and Brittain worked well together at Blackburn during his time in charge at the Lancashire club, so it’s no surprise that he's keen to re-unite with the right-back.

Brittain has a vast amount of Championship experience, and is now 27 so is coming into his prime age as a footballer,

He is also a versatile player, and can play in multiple roles and positions as well as being primarily a full-back, although you'd imagine that with Eustace ending the 2024-25 season with a 3-5-2 formation with great success, he'd be competing with Kane Wilson at right wing-back if he signed.

Given his contract situation, if Derby can get a deal done at a reasonable price then this could be a solid piece of business, but Blackburn are going to drive a hard bargain, given that they've got history of letting players run down their contracts instead of selling them - Ben Brereton Diaz being a notable example.