Derby County tipped to beat 7 EFL Championship rivals to ‘exciting’ Plymouth Argyle transfer | OneFootball

FLW's Rams Fan Pundit has his say on Lorent Tolaj potentially moving to Pride Park this summer

Derby County are preparing to join a huge transfer battle this summer, with at least seven Championship rivals circling the same Plymouth Argyle target.

The target in question is, of course, 24-year-old Swiss striker Lorent Tolaj, and it's not that difficult to see why one third of the second tier hold reported interest in him already.

Disregarding the final game of the season, Tolaj has hit 20 goals and seven assists across all competitions, helping fire Argyle into the promotion conversation after what was a terrible start for Tom Cleverley’s side.

From a Derby perspective, he seems like the perfect fit on paper, and it only seemed inevitable that the Rams would be among the latest clubs to be linked with him...

'Exciting' Lorent Tolaj, Derby County claim

If you didn't already know, Football Insider reported that Derby County and Millwall have joined the list of clubs chasing Tolaj.

An earlier piece from Voetbal Primeur named Norwich City, Stoke City, and Swansea City, while Alan Nixon credited Sheffield United, Preston North End, and Leicester City with interest via his Patreon.

That makes seven Championship sides so far, all while considering Glasgow giants Celtic and Belgian outlet Anderlecht are also reportedly monitoring the striker's situation in Devon.

FLW's Rams Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, is firmly on board with the idea of Tolaj helping Carlton Morris in leading the line for Derby next season.

"Yeah, I’d be happy with this signing," Woodward said. "I think it’s an exciting one, the guy is 24 I think, so very good age, he’s got his best years ahead of him.

"He’s clearly looking like he’s become a bit more of a consistent player over the last two or three seasons, scoring goals wherever he’s been and moving up through the leagues.

To add some context, after coming through Brighton's youth system, which is perhaps the first indication of a player with great potential, Tolaj had three unsuccessful loan spells at Cambridge United, Salford City and Dundee FC, where he didn't score a single league goal.

It was only until he joined National League outfit Aldershot Town on a one-year deal that Tolaj hit the ground running, scoring 25 goals before moving to Port Vale, where he also spent just one season.

Plymouth only triggered a £1.2m release clause to bring him in from Vale last summer and tied him down until 2029, so any successful transfer bid may have to be an eye watering amount.

Even still, the Rams' recruitment team have the full confidence of Woodward...

Derby County's recruitment team backed to sign another gem with Lorent Tolaj

On Derby County being the team to win the Plymouth Argyle, Lorent Tolaj transfer race, Woodward added, "If our scouting team thinks he’s good enough for the Championship then I’m happy with that, because they haven’t got much wrong in the last year or so.

"With [Patrick] Agyemang out for a season we definitely need to reinforce those forward areas. Also, we don’t know what’s going to happen with [Sam] Szmodics, with [Ben Brereton] Diaz, [Rhian] Brewster’s out injured at the moment, we might be losing [Bobby] Clark as well."

Everybody knows that Agyemang’s Achilles injury will leave a sizeable hole at the top end of the pitch for Derby next season, as he’s not expected to be back for around nine months. The USA international was signed for a reported £5.8m excluding add-ons last July, at the same age Tolaj is now.

It was even mentioned by Football Insider's Pete O'Rourke that Derby apparently see Tolaj as an "ideal" replacement for the American forward, who had ten goals and three assists in a black and white shirt before getting injured.

Woodward concluded his assessment on Derby potentially signing Tolaj with, "We definitely need to bring bodies into the building. Someone like him would definitely help support Morris with the goals, but he also looks like he’s got a bit of creativity as well.

"Yeah, hopefully the guy can come into the Championship and carry on where he left off for Plymouth. I’d be very happy with this signing."

John Eustace himself has already spoken about wanting to “expose Derby County as one of the top teams” and attract “top Championship players” to Pride Park, and Tolaj looks exactly the sort of signing that could turn into one of the best in the division.