Derby County financial blow revealed amid Elliot Embleton injury update | OneFootball

On transfer deadline day at the start of September, Derby County secured themselves somewhat of a coup when announcing the arrival of Sunderland midfielder Elliot Embleton on loan for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign.

After spending a lot of the 2022-23 season on the sidelines for the Black Cats, having suffered torn ankle ligaments whilst making a challenge against Hull City last December that he was red carded for, Embleton was allowed to head to Derby to try and rebuild himself and to get regular game-time.

Just a few weeks after arriving at County though, Embleton has suffered a disastrous injury which is set to abruptly end his time at the club.

What injury has Elliot Embleton suffered?

According to a report by BBC Radio Derby's Dominic Dietrich, Embleton has suffered a severe quadricep injury that is going to leave him sidelined for a number of months.

The midfielder was not in Warne's squad to face Carlisle United this past weekend and it was revealed by Derby's manager that he had suffered the issue in training whilst taking a corner.

Warne stated that Embleton would head for a scan on the issue, and the diagnosis has not come back as what Derby and the player himself would have wanted.

The damage is severe enough to put the 24-year-old on the sidelines for a number of months, and because of that he has headed back to Sunderland to start the recovery process.

That of course means he will not be available for action for Derby, and when January comes around the loan will be terminated officially, with it not being possible to do outside of the transfer window.

Derby though will also suffer a financial blow in the interim, with Dietrich confirming that County will have to pay the wage contribution that they agreed to with Sunderland until the January date that they can end the loan agreement officially.

That is not likely to be a cheap sum by any stretch of the imagination, but the Rams will have to cope for a few months and have to pay a player that they will not be able to use anymore, having only got two matches out of him.

How much of a blow is it for Derby to lose Elliot Embleton?

The addition of Embleton was a positive one for Derby as it added a creative spark in their midfield that had already proven himself at the level in the past.

Embleton had already scored goals at League One level and he was expected to provide something extra in the middle of the park - but Derby have now been robbed of finding out as to what would have happened.

Warne still has options available to him of course, with Tyrese Fornah and Korey Smith starting alongside each other against Carlisle last week, but with Conor Hourihane, Liam Thompson and Max Bird all sidelined as well, injuries are beginning to really set in at Pride Park.

And whilst it isn't ideal that Derby have to continue paying the wages of a player that they cannot use anymore, they are at least in a stable financial situation nowadays to be able to cope with it.