Derby County are in desperate need of reinforcements out wide, and John Eustace has less than two weeks to make the changes that he needs.
The Rams are in the bottom three of the Championship after two games of the season, and while there is no reason for panic, there are warning signs that significant improvements need to be made – especially at the back.
Corey Blackett-Taylor’s hamstring injury has also left the East Midlands outfit extremely light on the flanks, and new signings are still needed in that department.
Therefore, it is no surprise to see that Derby are taking an interest in a young Premier League winger, and one who supporters will already know plenty about. However, there is competition from Swansea City.
Derby County and Swansea City show interest in Liverpool winger Kaide Gordon
As per The Athletic, both the Rams and the Swans are pursuing a deal for Liverpool winger, Kaide Gordon.
Kaide Gordon of Norwich City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End FC and Norwich City FC
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
The 20-year-old had two loan spells in the Championship last season, featuring for both Norwich City and Portsmouth. However, he made just 10 appearances for the Canaries, while John Mousinho played him just five times.
Nevertheless, Gordon has played for Liverpool on seven separate occasions, scoring once for the current Premier League champions during the 2021/22 FA Cup campaign.
Now, he could be on his way back to the Championship as both Derby and Swansea look to strengthen out wide and bring in a player who has not quite had the chance to prove himself so far in his career.
Wayne Rooney is a huge Kaide Gordon fan
Gordon started his career with the Rams, and was handed his debut by Wayne Rooney back in the 2020/21 Championship campaign.
He came off the bench during a 4-0 victory for Derby over Birmingham City in December 2020, and just a month later he was being linked with moves to the Premier League.
Kaide Gordon of England looks on during the U20 Euro Elite League match between England and Czechia
Photo by Matt McNulty – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Rooney said on the situation (via: Derbyshire Live): “Kaide is a fantastic player and he has got a lot of potential,” Rooney said. “He has come through the academy. He is 16, he has got a lot of development to do and he is definitely at the right place to do that.
“Of course there will be interest in Kaide because he is a fantastic player, so we expect there to be interest in him. We can control what we are doing at this football, but we can’t control if other teams make bids for our players.”
The winger’s brother, Isaac Gordon, is currently on the books at Derby and Eustace looks to be planning to reunite the two in DE24 before deadline day.