Why Derby have done shrewd business by beating Leeds to sign Florian Jozefzoon

As per reports, Derby County have completed a deal for winger Florian Jozefzoon from Championship rivals Brentford for an undisclosed fee. The 27-year-old has signed a three-year contract that runs until the end of 2021.

Jozefzoon, capped at youth level for his country, came through the youth system at Ajax and made a handful of appearances for the first-team. He then served spells at NAC Breda, RKC Waalwijk and PSV, where he was part of the title-winning team in 2014/15. The winger joined Brentford in January last year and scored 8 goals.

A lot of expectations have been nested on the shoulders of Derby County’s new manager, Frank Lampard. It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Lampard when it comes to signing new players. In fact, he has completed just two loan deals for Mason Mount and Harry Wilson, and has managed to sign Jozefzoon permanently so far.

Jozefzoon had a brilliant season with Brentford, scoring 8 goals and supplying 7 assists as the Bees finished 9th in the Championship. The 27-year-old would increase the creative options available to Lampard and add some much-needed pace to Derby’s attack for next season. He would make an immediate impact at Pride Park, providing guile and inventiveness that has been lacking.

The 27-year-old is fast, agile, direct and a tenacious player whose work-rate is simply extraordinary. Jozefzoon is also a composed finisher and would provide credible goalscoring threat from the wing. The former Ajax and PSV man is versatile enough to operate on either wing as well as through the middle. Besides, he has wealth of experience under his belt and is extremely comfortable on the ball.

Derby’s capture of Jozefzoon undoubtedly would be a big blow for Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds as the forward could have been an impact signing for them. Leeds have lacked a versatile forward for quite some time now and have also lacked a game-changer in the attacking department. Jozefzoon could have brought in all those qualities.

However, it is a massive coup for Lampard and Derby. The Chelsea legend has cast his magic to convince promising players like Mount, Wilson and Jozefzoon to join his forces at Pride Park,

Derby missed out on promotion under Gary Rowett last season but Lampard’s urgency and convincing power suggest that the 2018/19 campaign could finally be a jubilant one for the Rams.