Derby County must beat Hull City, Preston to Brighton transfer agreement - It can fix John Eustace issue | OneFootball

The three second-tier sides are all reportedly pursuing 19-year-old winger Tommy Watson

Derby County are apparently interested in Brighton's promising young winger Tommy Watson, but they face stiff competition from Championship rivals Hull City and Preston North End for his signature.

According to journalist Alan Nixon via his Patreon, the three second-tier sides are all pursuing the 19-year-old, who has impressed during his brief appearances for Brighton this season.

Watson scored on his Seagulls debut in a 6-0 Carabao Cup win over Oxford United, curling home a brilliant effort to cap off the evening. Then, in the same competition, he provided 3 assists as the Premier League club beat Barnsley by the same scoreline.

It's worth a reminder that the East Sussex outfit paid £10m to secure his services from Sunderland in April this year — one month before Watson scored the winning goal in the playoff final for the Black Cats against Sheffield United.

John Eustace's creativity crisis at Derby County

There's no denying that John Eustace's Derby County side have struggled to create consistent attacking threats this season, managing just six points from their opening seven Championship fixtures.

The Rams' 1-1 draw with Wrexham on Saturday certainly highlighted their attacking limitations - they only had one shot before the first-half whistle blew and it wasn't on target, courtesy of Patrick Agyemang on 15 seconds.

Derby did go on to have three shots on target by the end of the game, which included Ben Brereton Diaz's first goal as a Ram. Still, they lacked the pace and trickery down the wings to really trouble Wrexham — just like in the vast majority of games so far this season.

Albeit Kayden Jackson is the only other 'natural' winger at the club, the absence of Corey Blackett-Taylor has limited options on the flanks for Derby, with the 28-year-old winger still recovering from a hamstring injury sustained on the opening day against Stoke City.

Eustace confirmed "Corey is still working very hard with the rehab team" and that "he might be a couple of weeks away from possibly joining back in with the group, which will be great," before the trip to North Wales.

Tommy Watson could be just what John Eustace needs at Derby County

During his breakthrough season at Sunderland in 24/25, Watson showed real promise despite, you guessed it, injury setbacks.

Before going off in the first half of a midweek draw with Bristol City, which saw him out for "two months", Watson scored his first senior goals in a 2-1 win over Stoke City the previous Saturday.

His performances caught the reported attention of "multiple" Premier League Clubs, with Brighton ultimately winning the race for his signature. Now, as per Nixon's report, they could consider a loan move come January to give Watson regular first-team football.

If Eustace was to secure Watson's signature ahead of Hull and Preston, it could allow him to properly implement his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation more effectively.

During his time at Blackburn Rovers, the 45-year-old favoured this system, which relies heavily on creative wide players to provide service to the striker.

However, even though some of the current squad are capable of playing on the wings, Derby just don't have proper wingers at the club who are good enough or fit enough.

Watson would definitely offer an immediate impact at Derby, although it won't exactly be a long-term solution. You'd like to think his quick turn of pace would stretch opposition defences and create space for Derby's other attacking players to exploit.

Preston, of course, beat Derby to the loan signing of Harrison Armstrong in the summer, so the Rams would definitely need to act decisively, given there's also Hull to contend with.