Where Derby County's £6m Bobby Clark signing would rank in the Rams' most expensive transfers | OneFootball

The ex-Liverpool prospect is nearing a permanent return to Pride Park

Derby County are closing in on a deal that would rank among the most expensive in the club’s history.

As every Rams fan - and plenty across the Championship - will know by now, Bobby Clark is reportedly in advanced talks to return to Pride Park on a permanent basis from RB Salzburg.

After playing 45 times under John Eustace last season, the 21-year-old was nominated for the EFL Young Player of the Season award, having scored four goals and provided three assists.

Yes, he lost out on that aforementioned award to Leicester City loanee Jordan James, but the way Clark kept improving as the season went on will leave Derby fans hugely excited about what comes next.

With the fee expected to fall between £5m and £6m, FLW takes a look at where that would place the ex-Liverpool prospect among the biggest-money arrivals in black and white.

How Bobby Clark's £6m fee compares with Derby County's most expensive transfers

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Should the Clark deal be confirmed at £6m, it would move the midfielder ahead of USA international Patrick Agyemang in the club's transfer rankings - on an initial fee basis.

Agyemang arrived from Charlotte FC last summer for an initial fee of £5.8m, a figure that carries the potential to rise to £7.3m with add-ons.

However, on the base fee, Clark would obviously nudge the striker by £200k. It would instead place him level with Bradley Johnson as the Rams' third-most expensive signing of all time.

Johnson arrived at Pride Park 11 years ago from Norwich City for £6m. Then 28-years-old, he’d won promotion twice during his four years at Carrow Road and had been their Player of the Year in 14/15 after scoring 15 goals in 45 games.

Clark is obviously only 21 and is still in the early stages of what promises to be a promising career. Albeit Johnson is now an academy coach at Derby, he left for nothing as a player after four years and 140 appearances.

According to transfermarkt records, only Krystian Bielik and Matej Vydra commanded larger initial fees than Johnson.

BBC Sport noted Derby paid 'about' £8m to sign Czech forward Vydra from Watford in 2016, whereas Arsenal's sale of Bielik in 2019 was done for a reported amount of £7.5m excluding add-ons.

Below all of these names is Tom Ince, who made his permanent switch from Hull City for £4.75m in 2015.

John Eustace said signing Bobby Clark permanently for Derby County would be 'very expensive'

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When asked about signing Clark permanently at a fans’ forum event in March, Eustace said, "Obviously, I know it's going to be very expensive, but we want to bring in as many good players as possible to the football club, and I think we've got a really good competitive squad now."

The fact Derby have seemingly agreed a fee well below the £10m Salzburg paid just two years ago makes the deal look very shrewd, though. Some fans would have expected it to be a lot more.