2 Derby County summer transfer decisions facing Wayne Rooney when the window opens

Derby County’s defeat to Swansea over the weekend has left them needing a minor miracle to remain in the Championship.

Wayne Rooney’s side are nine points from safety with five games to play, so despite their heroic efforts, it seems the Rams will be playing in the third tier next season.

Of course, for Derby fans there are much bigger concerns at play right now, as they just want American businessman Chris Kirchner to finalise his takeover to ensure they can at least see a future for the club.

Rooney will also want such clarity, with the Manchester United legend unable to plan ahead due to the uncertainty.

But, here we look at TWO of the many decisions that will be facing the boss if the takeover goes through…

Deciding which players to keep

The situation at Pride Park is quite remarkable with the number of players that are out of contract in the summer.

Some players will be impossible to keep, notably Tom Lawrence, whilst the talented youngsters coming through might have better offers and there’s also uncertainty surrounding experienced players like Curtis Davies and Colin Kazim-Richards.

So, before Rooney even has a look at the market, he needs to decide which players he can, and wants, to keep at Derby.

Where to spend whatever budget he has

Following on from that, it’s clear Rooney could be looking to start a major rebuild, with many, many new signings required.

Therefore, the 36-year-old is going to need to prioritise certain positions and decide where the chunk of his budget needs to go.

We don’t know exactly how much Kirchner will back the boss with, although you would hope he has been in touch with Rooney to give him some sort of idea of what he will be working with.

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