Derby County handed David Ozoh boost as Middlesbrough truth emerges | OneFootball

David Ozoh is not a Middlesbrough target this summer despite contrary reports

Derby County boss John Eustace has made no secret of his intention to re-sign as many of his loan stars from last season, and has already taken action on one, and now, received a big boost on another.

It was a stellar year at Pride Park for Derby, who, although they missed out on a place in the play-offs on the final day of the campaign, endured a much more positive season than the one prior, where they barely just scraped survival.

Under the former Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers boss, Derby looked like a cohesive unit all campaign, with Eustace's preference for working with players he has previously utilised before paying dividends.

Each of Lewis Travis, Dion Sanderson, Danny Batth, Sammie Szmodics, and David Ozoh, to name just a handful, has all previously worked under the 46-year-old before, and all have thrived.

Eustace is looking to continue that trend heading into the summer, with a £6 million deal for RB Salzburg midfielder Bobby Clark, who spent the recent campaign on loan at Pride Park, edging closer to confirmation, as now the Rams have received another boost in their pursuit of one of their other former loan stars.

Middlesbrough have no interest in Crystal Palace's David Ozoh in major boost for Derby County

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It was reported on Sunday via Alan Nixon's Patreon that Crystal Palace defensive-midfielder Ozoh, who has spent the last two campaigns on loan with Derby, was a target for Middlesbrough this summer in case Hayden Hackney headed the opposite direction.

Hackney is widely regarded as one of, if not the best, midfielders in the Championship, and interest from Premier League clubs this summer after Boro failed to secure promotion was always going to be rife, as Palace are one of the teams in the queue for his services, as Nixon stated that Ozoh could be used as part of any deal.

However, contrary to those reports, TeessideLive have now reported that Ozoh is not a target for Boro this summer, which will come as a huge boost in Derby's pursuit of bringing him back to Pride Park.

Boro will likely need to strengthen their midfield area this summer, especially in the event of Hackney's departure, but TeessideLive understands that Ozoh does not appear in any of the shortlists that the club have drawn up.

Eustace has previously made his intentions of re-signing his loan stars clear, saying: "Obviously I've spoken to all the players. They love playing for Derby, they love being here.

"From that point of view, I think they'd all love to stay but everything else is out of my hands."

Ozoh almost certainly falls into that bracket, having emerged as one of the first names on the team sheet when fit under Eustace, with injuries limiting him to just 47 appearances for the Rams across the two campaigns.

With Pierre Sage taking charge at Selhurst Park from Oliver Glasner, whether Ozoh is in the Frenchman's plans remains to be seen, but as for now, Derby can breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that the newly pledged Nigerian international won't be heading to Teesside this summer.

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Few people will be more relieved by this recent news than Derby boss Eustace.

The 46-year-old would ideally love to keep the core of his squad from last campaign together, whilst adding bits of quality in areas that need it, to really push for Premier League promotion next season.

Ozoh will almost certainly be on his rader once again this summer, whether that be a loan or permanent deal, and conversations with his parent club, Palace, will be taking place.

For now, no moves have been made for Ozoh, as Derby and Eustace can breathe a sigh of relief at Boro's lack of interest.