How Dion Sanderson feels about permanent Derby County transfer from Birmingham City | OneFootball

Dion Sanderson could move to Pride Park on a permanent basis in January

Derby County are looking to strike a six-figure agreement with Midlands rivals, Birmingham City, for the permanent services of centre-back, Dion Sanderson. The players is reportedly open to such a deal.

That is according to a recent report from Alan Nixon via Patreon, with John Eustace currently preparing for his second transfer window at Pride Park after joining the Rams from Blackburn Rovers in February.

The East Midlands side have, like many other Championship sides across the opening four months of the current campaign, endured an extremely mixed run of results across their opening 21 league outings ahead of the Christmas and New Year period.

However, the 46-year-old was able to see his side return to winning ways for the first time since November 25th on Monday night, as they comfortably breezed past the division's bottom and crisis club, Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough, with a Patrick Agyemang brace and Liam Thompson's first goal for the club seeing Derby emerge 3-0 victors in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

It was a result that saw the Rams climb back into the second tier's top half ahead of the final round of fixtures before Christmas, ironically leapfrogging Sanderson's current employers in the process, as they registered a frustrating 1-1 draw against fellow newly-promoted side, Charlton Athletic at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park some 48 hours previous.

Much has been made regarding the potential for transfer activity in January in the East Midlands and the Second City, with Birmingham boss, Chris Davies, making a handful of stark transfer admissions of late while receiving ample backing from Knighthead Capital Management, whilst Derby continue to generate headlines as a result of takeover talk, with the likes of Mike Ashley, John Textor and James Bord named as potential bidders to take over from David Clowes amid claims that the club is worth approximately £60m.

However, it is fair to say that one player whose fate at St Andrew's was decided many months ago was Sanderson, who could be about to permanently link up with his former Blues boss, who has since taken him to Ewood Park and Pride Park on a temporary basis in the past 12 months.

Derby County hoping to strike £350k permanent transfer for Dion Sanderson

Sanderson's career so far has seen him become an established centre-back at Championship level, having initially risen through the academy ranks of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The man, who celebrated his 26th birthday with Derby's 3-0 success over the Owls in South Yorkshire, has played for six teams across various EFL stints, with the first of those coming with Cardiff City in 2020.

It was at Birmingham, under the management of Eustace, though, where the Wednesfield-born man would feature the most in a loan spell away from Molineux in the 2022/23 season, in what was his second stint at St. Andrew's, playing 31 times, scoring twice and forming an impressive partnership with current Celtic centre-back, Auston Trusty.

As Blues were taken over by Knighthead in 2023, Eustace moved to secure Sanderson's services on a permanent basis for £2m. However, months after he was dismissed and replaced by Wayne Rooney in a chaotic relegation season in B9, the defender was stripped of the captaincy before Chris Davies' instalment as manager in June 2024.

However, injury issues coupled with Davies' selection saw Sanderson make just two League One appearances as Blues went on to achieve a record-breaking points total of 11, with the defender reuniting with Eustace just weeks before he controversially swapped Ewood Park for Pride Park.

Yet, after making 12 appearances for Rovers, the centre-back reunited with his former boss once again this season, and after making 22 solid appearances thus far, which included his first goal for Derby against Watford on November 22nd, the Rams have agreed a £350,000 price-tag in principle with Birmingham as they look to secure his services on a permanent basis, according to Nixon.

The report does state, however, that whilst Sanderson is content with the permanent switch, other clubs have been alerted to the situation, whilst the defender could, surprisingly, return to St. Andrew's should any issues with the agreement arise.

Derby County, Dion Sanderson permanent move would suit all parties

It is fair to say that a permanent switch to Pride Park for Sanderson is a move which would suit all parties.

First of all, the defender has played his best football under the management of Eustace, which also means the Rams boss is well-equipped when it comes to knowing how his attributes suit Derby's style, which have already been evidenced.

It also allows Sanderson to have a sense of familiarity, having spent the vast majority of his career thus far enduring short-lived loan or permanent stints at various clubs.

Meanwhile, whilst Nixon's report says that a breakdown in talks could see Sanderson return to Birmingham, it would take an extraordinary set of circumstances to unfold before he would don the royal blue again, with Davies currently having Christoph Klarer, Phil Neumann, Jack Robinson and Eiran Cashin in his ranks as natural centre-backs.