Derby County are looking to strengthen their diverse squad ahead of the 2026/27 Championship season.

The Rams nearly missed the play-offs in 2025/26, finishing eighth in the second tier and four points behind sixth-place Hull City, who overcame Middlesbrough at Wembley Stadium to gain promotion to the Premier League.

Finishing seventh or eighth next season, however, will be sufficient to qualify for the play-offs, after the competition’s expansion to allow up to eight teams to compete for promotion to the Premier League.

Derby manager John Eustace understands that he needs another successful summer transfer window to ensure that the Rams are in the promotion battle again next season.

A new Will Ferry twist surfaces as Derby County targets winger

Eustace is looking to bolster his wide options after Jaydon Banel and Ben Brereton-Diaz returned to their respective parent clubs, Burnley and Southampton, after loan spells at Pride Park.

Brereton-Diaz has seven goals and three assists in 40 Championship appearances for the Rams, while Banel scored three goals in 14 second-tier games.

Fellow winger Corey Blackett-Taylor’s Derby future is uncertain as he was loaned to Bolton Wanderers for the second part of the season before suffering an injury.

Blackett-Taylor had two goals and one assist in seven League One games for Wanderers, who won promotion to the Championship via the play-offs despite his absence.

Meanwhile, Derbyshire Live reports that the Rams are one of several clubs interested in signing Dundee United winger Will Ferry this summer.

Ferry scored four goals and provided nine assists in 41 games across all competitions in the 2025/26 season, having previously played in the EFL for Cheltenham Town and Crawley Town before joining the Scottish Premiership in the summer of 2024.

According to the Dundee Courier on Tuesday, the 25-year-old’s current club has rejected a £1 million bid for his services from an undisclosed European club.

Ferry’s reputation has grown in recent months, and he earned his senior debut for the Republic of Ireland as a half-time substitute in a 5-0 victory over Grenada on May 16.

According to the Courier, Dundee United are looking for a seven-figure fee for the former Cheltenham player, whose contract expires in 12 months.

According to a March story in the Daily Record, Derby are interested in Ferry, as are Charlton Athletic and Blackburn Rovers.

Derby could be best suited by avoiding clear of the Will Ferry deal

The departures of Banel and Brereton-Diaz, combined with the uncertainty surrounding Blackett-Taylor’s future, have left Derby having to sign a new winger this summer.

However, Ferry’s Dundee United career does not suggest that he possesses the offensive abilities required to assist the Rams in their quest for a Championship play-off spot.

Since joining the Tannadice club in the summer of 2024, the Ireland international has only scored four goals in 83 appearances in all competitions, all of which have come this season.

He also only scored two goals in his last League One season for Cheltenham, indicating that he is not capable of consistently troubling Championship defence.

As a result, Derby may be better off looking elsewhere for a new winger.