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Explained: This is why Derby County must avoid a move for this 24-year-old League One genius at all costs

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Why Kyle Dempsey to Derby County makes no sense

According to Derbyshire Live, Derby County have been credited with an interest in midfielder Kyle Dempsey, who currently plies his trade with Fleetwood Town in League One. 

As per the report, the 24-year-old defensive midfielder has caught the eye with his impressive form for Joey Barton’s side in the third-tier and the Rams have sent their scouts to keep an eye on his performances. 

However, if Derby do hold a genuine interest in Dempsey, they would need to fend off interest from Championship rivals Swansea City and Huddersfield Town in the race to sign the midfield enforcer. (h/t Derbyshire Live)

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Born in Whitehaven, Kyle Dempsey rose to prominence with Carlisle United before adding Championship experience to his CV at Huddersfield Town.

However, after struggling for regular minutes in West Yorkshire, the 24-year-old joined Fleetwood Town in League One, initially on loan, before completing a permanent move to Highbury Stadium in 2017. 

Dempsey has since gone on to make a total of 124 appearances for the Fishermen in all competitions and his rich vein of form has caught the eye of several Championship clubs, including Derby County, with his current contract set to expire next summer. 

The 24-year-old has made eight appearances for Joey Barton’s side in all competitions this term, including 6 starts in League One, and has been instrumental in the club’s surge up to 4th in the standings. 

Meanwhile, the Derby have endured a lacklustre start to the campaign under new manager Phillip Cocu and they currently sit 15th in the standings after managing only three victories from 12 fixtures, whilst playing out draws on 6 occasions. 

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The fans at Pride Park would have hoped for their club to mount another promotion challenge after making it all the way through to the playoff finals last season but those hopes are apparently fading away, with Derby currently 7 points adrift of the playoff spots. 

Mediocre returns of 15 goals in 12 games suggest that the Rams need to strive for significant improvement in the striking and creative department and Cocu could be forced to dip into the transfer market in January to add more quality and firepower to his attacking ranks. 

To that end, though, Derby’s links with Kyle Dempsey look a bit underwhelming on paper, given that the Rams are already pretty well-stocked in the central midfield department. 

Krystian Bielik came through the door at Pride Park from Arsenal as a marquee signing in the summer, while Graeme Shinnie seems to have adapted well to his new surroundings south of the border following his arrival at the club on a free transfer from Aberdeen. 

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Plus, with Tom Huddlestone, Duane Holmes, academy prospect Jason Knight and George Evans all vying for a role in central midfield, there is hardly any evidence to suggest that someone like Kyle Dempsey would be an upgrade on the club’s existing options in that area of the pitch. 

Verdict

Weighing up the present circumstances, Derby County would be better off dropping their interest in Kyle Dempsey, given that they have other areas of the squad that necessitate immediate attention. 

The failure to replace top-quality creative players like Mason Mount and Harry Wilson, who were instrumental in the club’s promotion surge the last term, has already come back to haunt them badly, with Everton loanee Kieran Dowell not doing enough in that No.10 role, and Cocu needs to find a solution to those problems at the earliest. 

Suffice to say, the Rams currently lack a genuine goal threat in their midfield options and signing Dempsey would hardly make any sense in that regard.