Derby County, Portsmouth & Bolton Wanderers in 8-team transfer battle for Chesterfield's Armando Dobra | OneFootball

Armando Dobra is of interest to several Championship and League One sides

Derby County and Portsmouth are facing a transfer battle in the race to sign Chesterfield ace Armando Dobra in the final days of the summer transfer window.

That is according to a fresh report from Football Insider on Sunday night, who claim that the two Championship sides are set to face stern competition from several other EFL outfits for the playmaker's signature, with plenty of League One clubs also monitoring Dobra, who has become a key figure in North Derbyshire across recent seasons.

Both second tier sides have been fairly active in the transfer market thus far, with John Eustace managing to bring in 10 signings across his first pre-season at Pride Park, with a handful of those bolstering the 45-year-old's attack and creative department after Derby struggled for goals last term beyond former loan forward, Jerry Yates.

However, it is clear that the Rams are set to find it tough if they are to entice the 24-year-old to make the short move to DE24, with plenty of other sides looking to lure Dobra to their own projects for the current season and beyond.

Derby County, Portsmouth FC and Bolton Wanderers among host of EFL sides monitoring Chesterfield ace Armando Dobra

Dobra has been on the Spireites' books since the summer of 2022 during the club's previous stint in Non-League, moving to the SMH Group Stadium on an initial two-year deal after being released from Ipswich Town when the Tractor Boys were in the midst of a three-year spell in League One.

In those past three campaigns, the Albanian youth international has, unsurprisingly, emerged as a favourite among supporters after ending his first season as the club's top scorer with 12 goals, before hitting double figures in goals and assists as the club returned to the EFL under Paul Cook after a six-year absence.

The winger/attacking midfielder also scored 13 times across all competitions last term as Chesterfield were eventually defeated by Walsall in the League Two play-off semi-finals.

After putting pen to paper on a fresh two-and-a-half-year contract in February, the man who has netted twice in the early stages of the current campaign against Bristol Rovers and Gillingham, could be moving up the food chain in the final days of the window despite the Spireites' desire to return to League One for the first time since the 2016/17 campaign.

As per Football Insider's fresh update, it is claimed that Derby, who have already recruited the likes of Andreas Weimann, Carlton Morris, Rhian Brewster and Patrick Agyemang in their attacking department, have the 11-time youth international on their radar alongside divisional rivals Portsmouth and Oxford United.

The report also states that a handful of clubs in League One, such as newly-relegated Luton Town, Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley, Blackpool and Reading are also plotting moves for Cook's standout performer, who he and the Chesterfield hierarchy are reluctant to lose, but are bracing themselves for strong interest in his services.

Armando Dobra will hope to prove himself at a higher level after League Two, Chesterfield exploits

Dobra has been one of the fourth tier's standout performers in the last year, meaning you would be very hard-pressed to find anyone of a Spireites persuasion who could begrudge the London-born man at turning down the chance of furthering his career at a higher level.

He has previously made 22 appearances in League One for Ipswich, but was only able to register one assist during the infancy of his career, whereas now he could return to the third tier, or perhaps advance further to the Championship as a much more complete player.

The 24-year-old has shown on many occasions that his pace, trickery and unpredictability can cause havoc for defenders, and with the ambition shown at the likes of Derby, Portsmouth, Barnsley, Luton and Bolton - who have backed Steven Schumacher heavily in his first pre-season at the Toughsheet Community Stadium - Dobra could easily be attracted to one of the ex-Premier League clubs who are looking to return to their former glories over a sustained period.