John Eustace handed new Derby County transfer blow involving Burnley | OneFootball

Jaydon Banel ended the campaign in fine form for John Eustace's side, but returns to Burnley, where he'll be in the Clarets' plans

Derby County's play-off push in the 2025/26 campaign fell just short, but overall, it was a brilliant and encouraging first full season in the dugout for John Eustace.

This summer already presents some problems for the Rams, though, as several of their key players over the course of the campaign were on loan at Pride Park and are set to return to their parent clubs in the coming days.

Bobby Clark and David Ozoh have been brilliant in the engine room this season, with the former being nominated for the Championship's Young Player of the Season, while Ben Brereton Diaz and Sammie Szmodics showed glimpses of their former goalscoring selves in the Championship under John Eustace, too.

One of the late emergences into the Derby fold this past season was Jaydon Banel, though, who joined the club on loan from Burnley late in the January transfer window. He wouldn't make his first Rams start until Good Friday, but he made a big impact from then on.

The 21-year-old scored three times in his last six games, including vital winners against Oxford United and QPR, the latter winning the Rams' goal of the season, which helped extend their play-off hopes until the final day.

Burnley set to include Jaydon Banel in their plans next season, amidst their Championship return

If those final six games were anything to go by, Banel will be one of the more exciting wingers in the Championship next season.

Derby would definitely love to have him showcase that over a full year at Pride Park, but with Burnley suffering relegation to the second tier this past season, it's going to prove difficult to persuade the Clarets to loan the Dutchman out to a divisional rival.

Burnley's director of football development, Paul Jenkins, spoke on the Keeping the Faith documentary on X, per the Burnley Express, about how they expect Banel to be a key part of the club's rebuild, as they look to secure yet another immediate promotion back to the top flight.

"Jaydon is definitely part of our plans next season, without a doubt," he said.

"He's had a really good experience at Derby, getting game time, minutes, and the icing on the cake was that he scored three goals. Two of which were really fantastic individual goals, so he's come back in great shape.

"He's grown as a person, he's a young man, and he's really focused on returning for pre-season."

With the future of some Burnley players up in the air, following their relegation, it's refreshing to know that the replacement of the likes of Jaidon Anthony or Loum Tchaouna, if they do move on, is already waiting in the wings, having already shown signs of lighting up the Championship next season.

Derby County will have to look elsewhere for a dynamic winger this summer

Unfortunately, it's looking increasingly likely that Banel will have to join the list of loan stars who may not be returning to Derby for next season.

The 21-year-old's situation must be frustrating for the higher-ups at Pride Park, too, as he was just starting to build a head of steam within John Eustace's system, but now that's all been taken away.

There may still be some hope that whoever the new Burnley manager is, opts to utilise someone else out on the left wing next season, which could reopen the door for a return, but for now, the best thing Derby can do is to look elsewhere.

It means that the Rams are going to be replacing a few more key players than they ideally would have wanted to this summer, but that's the risk that a team takes when bringing in loan players.

Banel may not have been in the fold for long enough for Derby fans to fall in love with him, but his return to Burnley will sting slightly, especially if he uses the momentum generated at Pride Park to hit the ground running back at Turf Moor.