Derby County are the ones laughing from £10m deal right now | OneFootball

Derby County were the major winners in this transfer scenario

Derby County haven’t had much to smile about during the opening stages of this season.

The Rams arrived at the start of the 2025/26 campaign full of optimism, after enjoying a brilliant summer transfer window which saw them bring in a number of talented new recruits.

John Eustace was appointed as Derby manager in February 2025, with the 45-year-old opting to swap a potential play-off shot with Blackburn Rovers for a relegation battle at Pride Park.

This gamble paid off, with Eustace able to keep the Rams in the Championship and was subsequently rewarded with a handsome summer of spending.

Derby County brought in a mix of new signings, from experienced operators such as Lewis Travis, Ben Brereton Diaz and Carlton Morris to exciting talents like Patrick Agyemang, Bobby Clark and Owen Beck.

After such recruitment, Derby were expected to push up the second-tier standings, potentially with an outside shot of sneaking into the top six.

That hasn’t appeared to be the case however, as the Rams currently sit 20th in the table after eight matches.

Eustace’s side have only managed a single victory, which came away at West Brom and have suffered defeats against Preston North End, Stoke City and Coventry City.

Supporters will naturally feel frustrated about these results, with some potentially beginning to question whether Derby made the correct decisions with their recruitment.

However, there is one piece of business that the Pride Park outfit have commissioned in recent times that has proven to be a wonderful decision.

Derby County the major winners from Eiran Cashin deal

Last season, when times were tough at Derby County, Eiran Cashin consistently shone as the side’s leading light.

His defensive displays as club captain were crucial for the Rams when it came to grinding out results and resisting pressure from some of the Championship’s most lethal attacking forces.

These performances caught the attention of Premier League side Brighton and in the January transfer window, they forked out £10 million to acquire Cashin’s services.

However, the Irish defender struggled immensely to adapt to life in the top-flight, making just two appearances for the Seagulls throughout the second half of last season.

Just months after forking out £10 million on the centre-back, Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler realised that Cashin wasn’t a part of his plans for the 2025/26 campaign and that his immediate future lay elsewhere.

Birmingham City swooped in and secured the 23-year-old on a season-long loan, a move which was seen as yet another brilliant coup from the Second City side.

But the struggles he suffered with at Brighton have followed him to St. Andrew’s.

Cashin has started just one league game for Blues thus far and has failed to impress when on the pitch. The majority of his Championship minutes have come during Birmingham’s 3-0 defeat against Coventry and 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday.

Derby County will reflect on their sale of the defender extremely fondly, overjoyed at the fact that they managed to secure £10 million for a player who now can’t start regularly for a team in the same division as them.

The Rams cashed in on Cashin at the perfect time and reinvested that money in multiple areas during the summer window.

Eiran Cashin still has plenty of time to find his form

2025 has been an extremely disappointing year for Cashin thus far, after he looked to be emerging as one of the EFL’s most promising defensive talents.

After securing a move to Brighton, the Irishman must have felt optimistic about what the future held and how he would develop as a player.

Things haven’t gone his way since then, but there is still plenty of time for Cashin to turn things around.

At just 23 years of age, the centre-half has previously shown he possesses the defensive talent needed to succeed at the Championship level.

Once he finds his confidence, there is no reason why Cashin can’t get back to his best. However, reigniting that positive spark is a task easier said than done.