Update reveals Wayne Rooney had identified 15-goal man for Derby County transfer in January

Derby County boss Wayne Rooney had wanted to sign Luton Town’s Elijah Adebayo in the January window, providing Derby County’s takeover had gone through.

The Rams entered administration back in September and whilst securing a new owner has proven to be a long, frustrating process for all connected to the club, there had initially been a hope it would be concluded at the start of the year.

Therefore, Rooney had targets lined up to strengthen his squad, with the Athletic revealing that Adebayo was someone the boss is an ‘admirer’ of.

The Hatters forward has enjoyed a brilliant season in the Championship, scoring 15 goals to help Nathan Jones’ side to a place in the top six, with promotion to the Premier League now a real possibility.

With that in mind, there’s no chance Derby could revisit a deal for the former Walsall man if Chris Kirchner does complete his takeover, with the update going onto confirm Adebayo is on the radar of top-flight clubs.

Rooney is expected to oversee a major squad reshuffle in the summer, with Derby looking likely to be playing in League One.

The verdict

This would’ve been a real coup for Derby in the January window, and it may have been hard to convince Adebayo to move to Pride Park given their position.

Either way, remaining with Luton has worked out for the attacker and you would imagine that he will have bigger options on the table this summer, if Luton don’t win promotion.

As for Derby, this does at least show Rooney has an eye for a player and hopefully the takeover is sorted soon ahead of what should be a very busy summer for the Rams.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

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