Wayne Rooney’s Derby County gold was seized by Paul Warne & landed £9m transfer windfall | OneFootball

Eiran Cashin got his Derby breakthrough under Wayne Rooney, but it was under Paul Warne that he earned his £9 million price tag

No one likes to see their club in administration, but one shining light during the dark days in 2021 at Derby County was the emergence of Eiran Cashin.

The Irishman had been in the academy at Pride Park since 2009 and would progress up the youth levels to the under-18s in 2018, being an integral part of the Rams side who won the U18 Premier League in the 2018/19 campaign.

Appearances in the UEFA Youth League followed off the back of that, playing the likes of RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund's academy sides in continental tournaments, but while the club's youth system was thriving, it was far from that at the top.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit Derby hard. Former owner Mel Morris claimed that it cost them £20 million in revenue, and in September 2021, the club were placed into administration.

With senior players leaving the club because of financial issues, Wayne Rooney had to rely a lot on his young stars, and thus began the rise of Cashin, who got his feet under the table under the former Manchester United legend, but truly flourished after he departed and Paul Warne took the reins.

Eiran Cashin's early days in the Derby County senior squad under Wayne Rooney

Interestingly enough, COVID almost stopped Cashin from even making it as a professional at Derby. Speaking back in 2024, the Irishman revealed that problems caused by the pandemic caused a couple of scholars who would have received deals to leave.

But he held out and received his professional contract in the summer of 2020. The final three games of the 2020/21 campaign saw a then-19-year-old Cashin make the bench in the final three matches, as the Rams just staved off relegation.

It was only a matter of time before Derby would succumb to League One, though, and that was made even more certain in administration. At the time, Cashin was training with the first team, but couldn't make his Championship debut due to an embargo on restrictions.

Rooney stayed loyal to the Irishman, though, and whether it was due to a lack of senior personnel or that he knew the quality that the young midfielder-turned-centre-back had, he handed Cashin his professional debut as a late substitute in a 1-0 win over Blackpool in December 2021.

Later in the season, after the January window saw the departures of even more seasoned veterans, including defender Phil Jagielka, Cashin would be thrust in from the off and started 14 of the final 15 games of the campaign, scoring his first goal in the reverse game against Blackpool in the penultimate outing of the season.

But, after the club were relegated to League One, Rooney left Pride Park, and the club sought out fresh direction and, more importantly, a new owner so they could compete in the 2022/23 League One campaign.

Eiran Cashin was a major star in Derby County's rise back to the Championship under Paul Warne, and earned Rams £9 million

Luckily enough, lifelong supporter David Clowes saved Derby in July 2022, ending nine months of administration. He appointed Paul Warne to take over from interim boss Liam Rosenior in the September, and thus began the Rams' climb back to the Championship.

Cashin had a clear supporter in Rooney, and there may have been some worries that the young Irishman wouldn't be favoured by promotion specialist Warne, who may have opted for a more experienced choice, but the then 21-year-old was one of the first names on the teamsheet still.

He started 43 league games in his first season in the third tier as Derby just missed out on the play-offs, and played 44 times, with another 43 starts, in the second, as the Rams finished in the automatic promotion places and returned to the Championship.

In both campaigns, he won Derby's Young Player of the Season and made the official EFL League One Team of the Season in the 2023/24 promotion term.

Understandably, the then-22-year-old was highly touted as one of the top young stars in the entire EFL, and Premier League clubs were bound to come sniffing, especially after he captained the side numerous times in the following Championship campaign as Derby started strong.

Indeed, it was when Cashin went down with a hamstring injury in mid-December 2024 that the Rams started to slide down into the relegation zone. Before then, they were 14th after 21 games.

He would play just two more times for Derby after picking up that injury, as in the latter stages of the January transfer window, he was sold to Brighton and Hove Albion for £9 million, which served as pure profit for the academy graduate.

Unfortunately, he's yet to break into the Seagulls' fold a year-and-a-half on, and spent the 2025/26 campaign on loan at Championship sides Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers. And while that's been a shame for Derby fans to see, they look back at Cashin's time at the club fondly.

A lot does get said about Wayne Rooney as a manager, but his ability to spot talent in the Irishman and bring him into the fold was a win at Pride Park.