Why Derby County signing Bobby Clark turned down Leeds United & Sunderland AFC moves | OneFootball

The loanee felt that the Rams could offer him more than the recently promoted top flight clubs.

Bobby Clark chose to join Derby County in the face of opportunities to sign for Premier League clubs Leeds United and Sunderland.

John Eustace has had the freedom to completely transform the squad at Pride Park this summer, with Clark being his ninth signing. Dion Sanderson soon followed and took that number to double digits.

20-year-old Clark, a former Liverpool and Newcastle United academy member, has joined the Rams as part of the first loan move in his footballing career.

He followed former Liverpool assistant Pep Ljinders to RB Salzburg, who Derby have signed the midfielder from, last summer as part of a deal worth around £10 million. He has now returned to England after just one season in Austria.

Clark played against his new side in the early stages of this pre-season, but only featured for around 15 minutes.

Derby beat Premier League competition to Bobby Clark deal

Even at his slender age, the Epsom-born player will bring experience in the Premier League, the Champions League and the Europa League to Eustace's side, and help them to beef up the manager's options in the centre of the pitch ahead of a busy 2025/26 campaign. Derby get underway on Saturday away at Stoke City.

County supporters certainly have plenty of reasons to be excited by Clark, who excelled at the youth level for Liverpool. He registered seven combined goals and assists in the 2023/24 Premier League 2 campaign.

They should also be really pleased with the signing because of the club's that Derby beat to the youngster's signature, as it has been reported by Chronicle Live that Clark chose to join the second-tier side in the face of interest from top flight clubs Leeds and Sunderland.

Derby's offering of regular first-team minutes reportedly swayed the ex-Red towards Pride Park over moves to Elland Road or the Stadium of Light, where he would've taken up the role of a squad player.

The northeast outlet also reported that the player's former club Newcastle were offered Clark, but chose not to pursue a deal. Had they tried to re-sign him, the midfielder would've been happy to play a bit-part role in Eddie Howe's team, in order to be back at St James' Park, as per Chronicle Live.

Derby supporters have no shortage of reasons to be giddy about the Bobby Clark move

Clark's suitors in the English first division, combined with his mightily strong youth team background, show the level of player that Derby have been able to acquire. It's an area of Eustace's squad that they'll be happy to have addressed, as they now have plenty of centre-mid depth with players who bring a variety of different traits.

Most importantly, the 20-year-old seems genuinely excited to be with the Rams, and that's one of the factors that can be worrying with temporary moves; whether you'll get that buy-in from the player or not. All the signs are pointing towards Clark being invested in Eustace's vision.