Herbie Kane interest must lead to Derby County midfielder exit this summer: View | OneFootball

Derby County and Nottingham Forest are great rivals in the English game, so players going between both clubs is rare.

However, one such move that happened recently was the sale of Tyrese Fornah.

The Sierra Leone international swapped the red shirt of Forest for the white and black of the Rams only last summer, but has failed to truly impress during the first year of his two-year deal at Derby, and now could depart.

It is unknown where he will be off to for now but Derby currently hold interest in bringing Ebou Adams back to Pride Park permanently, as well as securing the services of Barnsley's Herbie Kane, so Fornah is unlikely to want to stick around and play a bit-part role next year.

Tyrese Fornah's disappointing 2023/24 in numbers

The former Forest man, who plays mainly in defensive midfield, but can also play further forward in an attacking midfield role, has made 23 appearances in all competitions for the Rams, with 19 of them being in League One.

He has not registered his first goal for the Rams yet but did notch a solitary assist this season, setting up Nathaniel Mendez-Laing's injury-time winner at Bristol Rovers in November.

Diving deeper into his stats for the season does not make for much better reading either.

It is no wonder then that the Rams are looking elsewhere for midfielders, as, if Fornah has failed to impress and make an impact at League One level, there isn't much chance that he will do so in the Championship.

Derby County interest in Herbie Kane and Ebou Adams

Former Liverpool and current Barnsley midfielder Kane has been placed on Derby's radar following his expression of wanting to play Championship football next season, as reported by Alan Nixon, following Barnsley's failure to navigate the League One play-offs.

The Englishman is available on a free transfer, as reported by Alan Nixon on his Patreon, and would make an excellent addition into the Derby midfield, with the Rams having already lost Max Bird, and potentially Conor Hourihane too.

He would certainly help form a new-look midfield next season for Paul Warne's team, with Kane having produced five assists for teammates this year, as well scoring nine goals himself, which clearly trumps the minimal impact that Fornah has had in the centre of the park for Derby this year.

Not only are the Rams interested in Kane, but they are also extremely keen to bring back popular loan signing Adams from Cardiff City.

The Rams signed the Gambian in January and he was pivotal in how the season ended, with his performances in midfield providing brilliant physicality and tenacity for a side that had previously lacked those qualities.

The Derbyshire Telegraph reported recently that Adams' agent suggested there had not been any official bid made but journalist Darren Wincoop has claimed Warne and his team were extremely keen on bringing Adams back to Pride Park.

Fornah deal has not worked out for either party

With these two reported targets suggest that Fornah's time at Derby could already be up.

It has ultimately not been a deal that has worked out for either party.

Fornah may have hoped that the move to Pride Park would reignite a career that had perhaps come stagnated thanks to plenty of mediocre loan spells both in England with the likes of Reading, Plymouth Argyle and Shrewsbury Town, and abroad with Portuguese side Casa Pia.

Meanwhile, Derby would have hoped that Fornah would provide the solidity in midfield they craved last summer, but with the signing of Adams in the middle of the season, added with Fornah's disappointing stats above, that clearly has not been the case.

It would therefore be sensible that both parties part ways this summer, no matter what happens with other transfers, as Fornah will want to play first team football consistently, at a permanent home, and Derby will likely want additional funds to chase current targets, plus any new targets that spring up throughout the summer window.