5 worst deals completed by Derby County since the turn of the century including the signing of Aberdeen forward

The transfer period can be tricky for any club as they often invest heavily on a player hoping that he would significantly improve the team. While some signings do manage to make their mark, some fail miserably.

Championship outfit Derby County also have had their brush with some very poor transfers in recent years, and here we take a look at the five worst transfers of the club over the last decade.

Abdoul Camara

Derby signed the versatile Guinean attacker from French outfit Sochaux in January 2016 for £1.25m but things never really worked out between the two parties. 

Camara, despite showing fleeting glimpses of his talents, never really impressed much for the Rams and failed to score a single goal in his 20 Championship appearances. In fact, his first and only goal for the club came thirteen months after he moved to Pride Park, in an FA Cup tie against Leicester City in February last year. The 28-year-old failed to make any significant impact as Derby terminated his contract last summer.   

Chris Maguire

Derby chased the highly-rated Maguire for months before finally agreeing on a deal with Aberdeen to sign the forward in the summer of 2011. But it turned out to be a poor investment on the Rams’ part.  

Maguire scored his first Championship goal in a home win against Portsmouth but then had an absolute nightmarish outing in the next game against Cardiff City, which saw him getting hooked off at half-time. The attacker never appeared in Derby’s starting line-up again. He joined Portsmouth in an emergency loan deal in March 2012 before Derby sold him to Sheffield Wednesday the following season. He managed just eight appearances for the Rams.

Chris Porter

Signed in 2009 from Motherwell, Porter was the first signing under then manager Nigel Clough. He had a memorable debut for Derby as he bagged a brace in a 2-2 draw against Swansea City.  

However, the striker struggled with injuries during his time at Pride Park and went on to make just 24 starts for the club, despite staying for over two and a half years. While his goals-to-minute ratio was fairly impressive, the fact that he was mostly injured was a major frustration for the club. He eventually departed in 2011, joining Sheffield United.  

Nick Blackman

Signed from Reading back in January 2016, the 28-year-old never really brought his A-game to the table at Pride Park. Having failed to score for the Rams in the 2015/16 season, Blackman managed just a solitary strike in 13 appearances the following campaign. 

Derby shipped him out on loan to Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv last summer, where he had a decent season, netting 8 times in 25 appearances. Blackman has just a year left on his contract with Derby, but it doesn’t seem like he has a future at the club. 

Lee Hendrie

Another signing of the Nigel Clough era that bombed very badly. Hendrie was signed from Sheffield United in the summer of 2009, in a swap deal that saw Jordan Stewart move the other way. But the wide midfielder was unable to hit the ground running at his new club, and injuries too played a part as he failed to make much of an impact in his debut campaign with the Rams.  

Hendrie was loaned out to Brighton & Hove Albion in March 2010, where he once again did little of note. And following his return to the club at the end of the campaign, Derby released him. He managed just nine appearances during his time at Derby.