With just over a week left of the transfer window, Derby County will need to stand firm and keep hold of one of their key players despite Premier League interest.
It has been a busy summer for John Eustace, who has already made ten new Derby County signings in an attempt to turn the relegation battlers into genuine contenders in the Championship this season.
The Rams have endured a tough start to the season, but a hard-fought draw against Bristol City pleased Eustace this weekend.
Now, though, the Derby County boss faces a challenging week as one of his most important players could well be off to Brentford. The thing is, a replacement would be so hard to find that he simply has to ignore the approach from the top flight club.
Derby County v Coventry City - Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Brentford weighing up £3.5m bid for Jacob Zetterstrom
As per a report from Alan Nixon at The Sun, Brentford are taking an interest in Derby goalkeeper Jacob Zetterstrom.
It’s said the Premier League club are considering a £3.5m offer for the Swedish ‘keeper as they look to find suitable competition for new signing Caoimhin Kelleher.
Zetterstrom is seen as the ‘perfect’ option for that role, and could be given the chance to step up from the Championship if the Bees do push ahead with a move.
John Eustace, Manager of Derby County, looks on prior to the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City AFC and Derby County FC
Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images
Jacob Zetterstrom is undisputed number 1 at Derby County
Derby may have signed Richard O’Donnell this summer, but there is no way that the 36-year-old is ready to be the Rams’ new number one goalkeeper. That role is very much Zetterstrom’s, and letting him go now would be a huge mistake.
Granted, Zetterstrom is far from flawless. He’s had a relatively shaky start to the season, actually, but that’s more indicative of Derby’s early troubles than anything else.
Looking back on his first season in England, it’s clear the big Swedish stopper has what it takes to carry Derby to success this year.
Statistics Jacob Zetterstrom in 2024/25
Games 42
Goals conceded 51
Clean sheets 10
Save rate 68%
Saves per 90 2.49
Crosses stopped 8%
Data via FBRef
Across 42 appearances, he conceded 51 goals, which is not bad at all for a team that was fighting relegation. Zetterstrom kept ten clean sheets across the campaign, and registered a 68% save percentage through that time.
On average, Zetterstrom was making 2.49 saves per 90 minutes. However, if there’s one area he needs to work on, it would be stopping crosses. Of the 550 that came his way last season, Zetterstrom dealt with just 8% of them.
In what should be a much-improved Derby team this season, we’ll surely see all of those metrics go up for Zetterstrom.
Meanwhile, if Derby were to sell him for £3.5m — hardly a life-changing sum of money — would they really be able to find a suitable replacement or upgrade in the next week? Probably not, and if anything, the Rams would only go backwards by letting him go now.