Ex-Liverpool star was dubbed ‘the next Raheem Sterling’ - Derby County got a brief taste | OneFootball

Derby County saw the potential of the ex-Liverpool wonderkid for themselves during the 2014/15 campaign

Lokomotiv Sofia winger Jordon Ibe was once likened to England international Raheem Sterling at Liverpool, but he arguably played his best football in a five month spell at Derby County.

Since leaving eighth-tier club Sittingbourne FC just 17 days after signing in mid-November, Ibe is now in Bulgaria's top-flight with hopes of relaunching his professional career.

With Sofia being the ex-Liverpool prospect's 11th-different club, FLW take a look at how the Rams saw Ibe's promise in his first spell with the club — and probably wished he never got recalled.

Given that the winger bravely opened up about his battle with depression when at Derby for the second time, Rams fans are definitely behind the 29-year-old to rediscover his love for the sport.

Derby County fell apart after Jordon Ibe was recalled by Liverpool - Rams saw his potential

When Ibe arrived atDerby Countyon a season-long loan deal in August 2014, then-manager Steve McClarenlabelledthe teenager as a "direct player with plenty of ability."

At just 18 years old, the London-born winger carried considerable expectations to Pride Park, and he did not disappoint during the first half of the 14/15 campaign.

Having been at Birmingham City for a short while the season before, Ibe made an immediate impact in the Championship for Derby, featuring in 20 league games and scoring an impressive five goals. Interestingly, that outlay represents Ibe's strongest-ever goal return in his career, despite the wide-man's promise only growing through a series of blitzing displays following his return to Liverpool.

By his own admission, Ibe revealed he "felt like I was at Real Madrid" when playing under McClaren at Derby. Bearing in mind, this was the season after their playoff final loss to Queens Park Rangers.

Whilst going on to say, "he's (McClaren) the best I had. He gave me freedom to play."

It's worth noting that the East Midlands outfit signed both Tom Ince - who later joined permanently - and Jesse Lingaard on deadline day, in an attempt to replace Ibe, who got recalled earlier that January window.

Both Ince and Lingaard joined on loan from Hull City and Manchester United respectively, with Derby going on to end the season in 8th after losing to Reading in the last game of the season to miss out on a playoff place.

At the time Ibe got recalled, on January 15th, Derby were in the automatic promotion places. Two days later, they then lost to East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest through *that* Ben Osborn winner - who had only won twice in their previous 20 games.

You could perhaps make the argument that the Rams would've gone up if Ibe was never recalled by Liverpool, because the wheels fell off as soon as he went back to Merseyside.

Derby County tried to tap into early Jordon Ibe promise five years later

Ultimately, that promise displayed across both his temporary spell in the East Midlands and his initial taste of Premier League football would prove to be the peak of Ibe's career trajectory at this moment in time.

The winger never quite kicked on in the manner many expected - becoming another example of a talented youngster who failed to convert enormous potential into consistent performances at the highest level.

A permanent move to Bournemouth in 2016 for a then-club-record fee of £15m showed a vote of confidence in his abilities, but he scored the same amount of goals, five, over 92 games for the Cherries than he did in a Rams shirt.

Ibe came back to Pride Park in 2020 on a two-year deal, but he made just one appearance, which amounted to three minutes of game time under Phillip Cocu - in a goalless draw against Stoke City.

Wayne Rooney then replaced Cocu as Rams boss, and although Ibe never played under the Manchester United legend at Derby, Rooney praised Ibe's bravery in speaking publicly about his aforementioned mental health struggles.

Regardless of how his football journey has panned out since leaving for the first time nearly 11 years ago, Derby got a genuine taste of why Ibe was dubbed 'the next Raheem Sterling' - and the 'Real Madrid' comments also show that Ibe loved that spell just as much as the fans did.