During his lone summer transfer window at Derby County, Frank Lampard signed nine new players. Three of them arrived at Pride Park in less than a week, which appeared to be remarkable on paper. Mason Mount arrived on loan from Chelsea, followed by Harry Wilson from Liverpool – two players who barely need an introduction. Instead, the third acquisition of the week, a permanent deal of £2.75 million for a Dutch winger from Brentford, turned out to be so disappointing.
How Frank Lampard reacted to £2.75m Derby County, Florian Jozefzoon transfer
When Florian Jozefzoon picked Derby over Leeds United, both teams had similar bids of £2.75 million accepted by Brentford, there was tremendous hope at Pride Park. Here was a man who had scored seven goals and assisted seven times in 39 league appearances for the Bees the previous season, as well as winning back-to-back Dutch titles with PSV. At the time of the 27-year-old signing for Derby, Lampard stated, “Florian is a player that I have been tracking since I first got the job here, so it’s fantastic for us to get the deal done.” I saw him at Brentford last season, and he’s an exciting player. With his pace and ingenuity, he is a valuable addition to Derby County’s squad. “At 27 years old, I am confident he will bring all of his excellent qualities to Derby County.” The ex-Chelsea icon even saved special appreciation for the club’s recruitment work in completing all three transactions that week, saying, “Credit should go to the club for getting this deal, as well as the Mason Mount and Harry Wilson signings, over the line this week.”
While Mount and Wilson undoubtedly went on to become full England and Wales internationals and both played in the Premier League, Jozefzoon’s career went in the completely opposite direction.
Florian Jozefzoon was reportedly the’most skilled’ player at Derby County
What made Jozefzoon’s Derby season so perplexing was that his teammates regularly praised his abilities in practice. Several of his Rams colleagues regarded him as the most skilled player on the team. However, there was a significant gap between what he shown at Moor Farm and what he produced on matchdays. Jozefzoon only scored three goals and provided two assists in 48 games for the East Midlands club. However, there were a few moments when he reminded everyone why Lampard was so eager to sign him. However, it is worth mentioning that the attacker only appeared 13 times in the Championship during his debut season with the club. His late winner against Hull City clinched the Rams’ fourth consecutive victory in September of the 18/19 season. Jozefzoon equalised in the 87th minute against Norwich City at Carrow Road a few months later, during the same campaign, when the floodlights went out. The following one had a huge reach, but it highlights how disappointing he was to watch. In the Championship play-off final against Aston Villa at Wembley, Lampard went to Jozefzoon off the bench, and the replacement sent a cross that Jayden Bogle headed back across goal for Jack Marriott to score it 2-1 with nine minutes left.
The next season, Marcelo Bielsa guided Leeds to promotion from the Championship, bringing an end to their 16-year absence from the Premier League. If Jozefzoon had taken the short trek up the M1, things could have turned out very differently.
Meanwhile, Brentford were promoted to the top flight two years later, in 2021, after replacing Jozefzoon with Said Benrahma in the summer of 2018. The irony was that Lampard’s successor, Phillip Cocu, had coached Jozefzoon to consecutive Eredivisie titles at PSV. You could have anticipated the reunion to instill something in him, but the reverse happened. Cocu did not even assign Jozefzoon a squad number for 20/21, indicating that the winger had no future at Derby. He later joined Rotherham United on loan, but the experience was just as unsatisfactory.
Jozefzoon declared his retirement from professional football in February 2026, when he was 35.
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