Paul Clement has said that he wants to make an addition or two to his squad before the transfer window closes with Huddersfield’s Jacob Butterfield seemingly the number one target.
The midfielder has been around the block in the Championship but will he be worth a huge, inflated fee?
The Rams have been linked with a lot of players in recent days and, given how the club has acted in the market so far this summer, it is easy to believe a signing will be walking through the front door of DCFC very soon.
After many high quality signings already this summer, you would think the next player will not fall short of that same description. That’s where the recruitment department, introduced in the Steve McClaren era, comes in.
This should be a test of how and if it is working for the club. Some of its work has been great but other signings have been obvious, well established players such as Shackell and Ince.
On the flip side some have been poor, the difficulties with Raul Albentosa in particular have perhaps made the club reluctant to look further afield, as they seek promotion in the short term.
So far this summer the Rams haven’t made any additions from the loan market, which is a little surprising considering it seems to be the obvious route after Will Hughes’ long term injury.
Will another Andre Wisdom land at Pride Park soon? With all the extra cash injection the focus seems to have been permanent signings but it must not be forgotten that real gems can be found out there on loan, particularly with Derby’s reputation for helping develop loan players under McClaren.
Of course the central midfield position appears to be a priority, however there’s another position where the Rams could be considered vulnerable — the Chris Martin style striker. Darren Bent isn’t Martin, Bent is a poacher, a great fox in the box, who will nick you a point or three here and there.
Fortunately this season the team doesn’t look as vulnerable with various systems being tried out but you can’t pretend that a Martin injury, or absence for whatever reason, wouldn’t make the squad look weaker.
As for outgoings before the window shuts, there hasn’t been much mentioned as far as the internet and newspaper rumour mill is concerned.
A loan deal would surely be beneficial to the likes of Mason Bennett and Ivan Calero this season, like their Derby colleagues Kelle Roos and Farrend Rawson at Rotherham it can only help further their development.
But for now we can only keep an eye on the door to see who may come and who may go.
For more of Nathan's articles you can read his blog at www.derbycountyfan.com and follow him via @ramscorner on Twitter.