Derby County told Southampton transfer is "sensible" as they face Zetterstrom reality | OneFootball

FLW's Derby fan pundit wants his club to sign Gavin Bazunu to replace Jacob Widell Zetterstrom

Derby County may be encountering an unwanted transfer headache this summer, as teams start to swirl around goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

The 27-year-old has impressed in his two seasons at Pride Park and was given the nod by Graham Potter in Sweden's last two matches in this summer's World Cup: a 1-1 draw with Japan and their eventual exit against France.

Despite losing 3-0, Zetterstrom put in an admirable performance, making nine saves against some of the world's greatest frontmen, and that prompted the likes of Leeds United, Wolves and Eintracht Frankfurt to register interest.

A lot of the questions surrounding Derby's summer window surrounded how they were going to replace some of the quality loan players in attacking and midfield areas that contributed to their eighth-placed finish last season, but now there may be a need to replace a departing goalkeeper, too.

According to The Sun, John Eustace is eyeing up Southampton shot-stopper Gavin Bazunu as a potential Zetterstrom replacement, with it expected that the Irishman will once again not be first choice at St Mary's next season due to the permanent signing of Daniel Peretz.

Derby County fan pundit endorses Gavin Bazunu move to replace Jacob Widell Zetterstrom

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Bazunu has had a tough few years on the South Coast recently. Following a £12 million arrival at St Mary's in 2022, the former Manchester City prospect was the first-choice in their relegation campaign and subsequent promotion term under Russell Martin.

Late in that 2023/24 campaign, though, he went down with an Achilles injury. Aaron Ramsdale would replace him in the Premier League, and when he recovered, he had a dud loan spell in Belgium with Standard Liege.

Last season, he began as first-choice, but would be replaced by Peretz after keeping just three clean sheets in 19 league outings. He'd be sent to Stoke City on loan to cover for Viktor Johanssen's injury, before he himself got injured after his debut. Bazunu made six appearances during that spell.

The Irishman needs a fresh start, and FLW's Derby fan pundit, Shaun Woodward, is keen on Pride Park being the place where he can get his career back on track, aged 24.

"I actually think this would be a sensible move, provided the price isn't too high," he said. "He's still a young lad and has so much of his career ahead of him, so he'd only get better.

"He has experience of getting promoted out of the Championship, cost Southampton a lot of money and has appearances for his country, too. So, despite being so young, he has a lot of experience, a lot of exposure at the level and has been around lots of top players at Man City.

"I don't think coming to Derby would phase him, and I think it'd be a very good move. We don't want Zetterstrom to leave, but it seems inevitable after his World Cup exploits. I'll wish him all the best and say that Bazunu looks to be a good replacement."

Woodward sees a lot of similarities in both goalkeepers, with Zetterstrom arriving as a 26-year-old a couple of years ago and with a lot of room to grow. He also feels that, even if Bazunu has had some years in the wilderness recently, if John Eustace feels he'd be the best replacement for the Swedish shot-stopper, he's keen to trust in that.

"Bazunu is similar to Zetterstrom, coming in as a relatively young keeper with a lot ahead of him, so hopefully he can come to Derby and build a good career for himself," he continued.

"If Eustace thinks he's good enough, then that's good enough for me, and if we can get him for a relatively low price, it frees up a lot of money to get players in attacking areas, which we need. So yeah, I think he'd be a good signing."

Replacing Jacob Widell Zetterstrom with Gavin Bazunu could be beneficial in improving the rest of Derby County's squad this summer

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With Zetterstrom in the final year of his Derby contract, and with his stock arguably the highest it's been off the back of the World Cup, there's a high likelihood that the Rams may need to cash in this summer.

Regardless of his contract situation, there's a chance that Derby can recoup a sizeable fee for a man they spent just £1.4 million on two summers ago. If they can get Bazunu, whose stock value is arguably the lowest it's been, for a cut-price fee, they could use the Zetterstrom money to invest elsewhere.

The Rams have already spent around £6 million to bring Bobby Clark in on a permanent deal from RB Leipzig, but there's a demand for more forward players to be brought to Pride Park, with Ben Brereton Diaz, Sammie Szmodics and Jaydon Banal all returning to their parent clubs and Patrick Agyemang likely not being seen until 2027 as he recovers from an Achilles injury.

Bringing in an eight-figure fee for Zetterstrom and signing Bazunu for less could help free up funds to replace some of those outgoing stars from last season, which will help the Rams build on their eighth-placed finish in the upcoming campaign.

And, if John Eustace can get the best out of Bazunu, they'd stand a chance of making a profit on him in the future, as they would likely do with their Swedish number one.