Derby County star must seek exit in 2026 – Charlton Athletic transfer miss was a shame | OneFootball

Former Peterborough United man Joe Ward may regret having not moved on from Derby County this summer.

With the dust now settled on the summer transfer window, there may well be a Derby County player living with the regret of not having departed Pride Park, with Joe Ward now perhaps facing a long wait for regular first-team football.

Over the summer, in what was John Eustace’s first transfer window as Derby County boss, the Rams experienced a lot of change with plenty of upheaval and lots of outgoings of previously key first-teamers.

They completely transformed the squad, too, with as many as 13 new signings for the first-team, and there is now a very deep squad for Eustace to get to grips with as Derby seek to build on from last season.

They managed to steer themselves clear of relegation, but only confirmed their Championship status on the final day of the season, and there will now be a desire for them to kick on once again and even try to push into the top-half of the table.

One man who helped them gain automatic promotion under the management of Paul Warne during the 2023/24 League One season, Joe Ward, is someone who may not be seen as key on that journey of kicking on, and he will now have to wait until at least January for his exit.

Joe Ward should have moved on from Derby County in the summer

Prior to the close of the summer transfer window, Charlton Athletic made a move for Joe Ward, who was and is seen as a bit of a fringe player for the Rams.

However, despite it being close, the deal never came to fruition and Ward has had to remain at Pride Park to try and fight for his spot at right wing-back, but that appears tough.

Ward would have faced competition for a regular starting berth at Charlton, too, with Nathan Jones rather well-stocked in terms of right-sided wide-men through the likes of Kayne Ramsay and Joe Rankin-Costello.

However, Ward's Championship experience could have kept him as an important member of the Addicks squad - instead, Derby have splashed out in that area of the pitch, pushing him even further down the pecking order following a busy summer transfer window in the East Midlands.

One of those 13 new signings was the arrival of Scotland international right-back Max Johnston, joining from Sturm Graz for a fee believed to be in the region of £3.5 million.

Johnston, as was the case in Derby’s recent 1-0 defeat of West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns upon their return from the September international break, was key and started in that game.

That has already knocked Ward down the pecking order at Derby, with Johnston taking the place of former Blackburn Rovers full-back Ryan Nyambe.

Both of those players would now appear to be ahead of Ward in the pecking order, and the versatile 30-year-old could face a frustrating few months.

John Eustace has plenty of options ahead of Joe Ward at Derby County

If fully fit then Johnston will likely play pretty much every minute of every game but, depending on game situation, there could be reason for a change – however, Ward may not be the beneficiary.

For example, if Derby were defending a lead and seeking to shut up shop then it could be that Nyambe is the man who would replace Johnston in that situation.

The best chance of Ward getting on the pitch would be as a set-piece specialist when Derby are chasing a game, but that would surely be a rarity even then, too, with Eustace also able to maybe even change the shape or play even more forward players in that right wing-back role, such as Andreas Weimann.

Ward was key when they gained promotion and would likely have played a larger role for Eustace last season if his campaign wasn’t ruined by injury.

That injury, though, has now seen him drift down the pecking order at Derby to becoming someone very much on the fringes, and a move to Charlton could have helped his career be reignited, but now he must wait until January 2026.