Derby County and John Eustace will thank Celtic for one key thing | OneFootball

Bobby Clark was almost a Celtic player in January, but Derby will be delighted that the move fell through

There haven't been many more impressive seasons when taking into account pre-season expectations than the one Derby County has had this year.

Some punters would have had the Rams as potential play-off outsiders at the start of the campaign, given John Eustace's reputation from his past jobs at Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers.

But the main focus at Pride Park will have been to establish themselves as a Championship regular after flirting with relegation in their first year back in 2024/25. They've more than exceeded that, and are heading into the final four games with an outside shot at making the top six.

A lot of that has been down to the personnel that the Derby boss was allowed to bring in over the course of the campaign. 17 new faces have come through the doors at Pride Park, and with plenty of Eustace favourites being amongst them, such as Dion Sanderson, Lewis Travis and Sammie Szmodics, it's evident the impact the manager had on the signings.

One player who John Eustace hadn't managed before, though, was Bobby Clark, who arrived on loan from RB Salzburg, just one year on from making the £10 million move to the Austrian side from Liverpool.

This season, he's become one of the first names on the teamsheet, but his time at Pride Park was nearly cut a lot shorter than the Rams boss would have hoped.

Celtic were close to signing Bobby Clark - Derby County will be delighted it didn't happen

Despite where they are now, Derby didn't have the smoothest start in John Eustace's first full campaign in charge, picking up just one win in their first 10 games while the Rams boss figured out what his best 11 in his new-look side was.

It turns out, Clark was part of that, and after starting just five of those first 10, he would go on a run of 20 consecutive Championship starts from October to mid-February.

The 21-year-old was excelling, and doing so in numerous different positions, too. He would mainly play as a defensive midfielder, but he deputised in a more attacking role and even played the odd game on the wing, too.

He was showing why his parent club splashed an eight-figure fee on him as a teenager, and, understandably, had sides in their respective top flights sniffing around his services in January, most notably Celtic, who were set to sign him permanently, according to a report from the Times.

That didn't materialise, though, and Clark remained at Pride Park at the end of the winter window. He has continued to perform admirably, and, with three goals and three assists this year, his hard work has been rewarded by being nominated for the Championship's Young Player of the Season award.

Derby County will hope that they haven't seen the last of Bobby Clark at Pride Park

Unfortunately, just days after being nominated for that award, Clark was withdrawn inside nine minutes in Derby's 2-1 defeat against Southampton, which put a dent in their outside chances of landing in the play-offs come May 2.

After the game, John Eustace stated that he came off with a hamstring injury and that he didn't know how serious it was. Derby fans will be waiting with bated breath in the hope that this doesn't end Clark's campaign.

If it does, then the focus will be on the summer and whether the Rams have a slight opportunity to sign the 21-year-old once more, either on loan again or permanently. But, given how well he's performed this season and the interest he had in him this past January, there'll likely be suitors in better positions than Derby to outmuscle the Championship side.

Although we have seen the pulling power that Eustace, and Derby as a club, can have on certain players, so perhaps the 21-year-old could become yet another managerial favourite and push for a return to Pride Park once his current loan spell concludes.

Either way, there could have been a situation where Clark's brilliance in the Rams' midfield was a distant memory after a January switch to Celtic. So, even if this season does spell the end of the 21-year-old's time at the club, John Eustace and the Derby fans will be happy that it didn't end prematurely a few months ago.