How Wayne Rooney helped Derby County to £9m transfer jackpot | OneFootball

Eiran Cashin is just one thing the Rams have Wayne Rooney to thank for

One of the biggest things managers leave behind at clubs is the players they gave a chance to, and that is certainly true of Wayne Rooney at Derby County with Eiran Cashin.

The centre-back has since moved on from Pride Park, but was initially given his first-team opportunity by Rooney and ran with it.

The Rams ended up cashing in on their academy product, a decision that looks smarter and smarter as time moves on.

Unlike some of the clubs he went on to manage, it is certainly a big positive Rooney can claim to have left behind at the club, with the Rams' administration having paved the way for a litany of young starlets to kick-start their careers in the game.

Eiran Cashin took his chance with both hands under Wayne Rooney at Derby County

Cashin made four substitute appearances for Derby before Rooney handed Cashin his full debut in a league game against Peterborough United in February 2022.

“I had trust in Cash coming, and he was outstanding,” Rooney said after the game.

“I have seen an improvement in him this season. It is hard to gauge from U23s football but there are details to look at.

“They wouldn’t be playing if I didn’t think they can.”

Wayne Rooney’s decision paid off and then some

From that Peterborough game on, Cashin played the full 90 minutes in all but one of Derby’s league games, establishing himself as a firm part of the first-team setup.

He became part of the furniture in League One, helping the Rams back to the Championship over two full seasons, adding three goals to his CV in that 2023/24 campaign.

He climbed back into the Championship with the side and continued to be part of the regular first-team setup, even captaining the side on occasion, long after Rooney had departed, with the ex-Manchester United talisman switching stateside to join DC United before returning to the Championship for unsuccessful spells at Birmingham City and later Plymouth Argyle.

Such responsibility at a young age, coupled with eye-catching performances on the pitch, naturally attracted interest from further afield, and it was Brighton and Hove Albion who got the deal over the line.

The Seagulls dropped £9million on the centre-back, an incredible fee for a defender at that level, which all went down as full profit for the Rams due to having produced him themselves in their academy system.

Derby may have cashed out at the right time

The early part of that Brighton move suggests that Derby may have got the better end of the deal.

Far from hit the ground running, Cashin made just two senior Brighton appearances in his first year at the club, instead dropping back down to the Championship with Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers in consecutive loan deals.

Players do not necessarily just keep improving in a straight, upward-facing line, and it can take some players longer to adjust to certain levels, but Brighton’s five-and-a-half-year deal is not looking the best use of money.

It would not even be beyond the realms of possibility that Cashin finds his way back to Derby, no doubt on terms that would suit the Rams.

But whatever happens in Cashin’s career, Rooney’s decision to give him that first-team exposure and a chance to prove himself directly led to the Rams banking an incredible sum of money just a few years down the line.

The former boss deserves a lot of credit for banking that jackpot, which no doubt went some way to freeing up funds for the likes of Patrick Agyemang further down the line.