Derby County's £1m Coventry City transfer agreement was a bargain | OneFootball

Signing Richard Keogh for just £1 million was a real bargain for a man who would go on to become club captain.

Derby County are still fighting for a return to the Premier League, having established themselves back in the Championship over the last two years. It's a fight that spills back into the 2010s, when we often saw the Rams on the cusp of play-off football and, indeed, that elusive top-flight return.

During that time, the Rams reached two Championship play-off finals in 2014 and 2019 but lost both times to Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa.

After this period of relative success, they were stricken by financial issues, which led to their relegation to League One in 2022.

However, during their Championship years, despite their ultimate failed success, they had a number of players of sheer quality across that time period. In particular during the 18/19 campaign, boasting players like Harry Wilson, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount.

But one man who was there during the majority of the 2010s who was an ever-present for the side was Richard Keogh, who would turn out to be a bargain signing having arrived from Coventry City.

Richard Keogh signs for Derby

Keogh was a centre-back, who had previously been playing in the Championship with Coventry. The Sky Blues were relegated though in 2012, and with Keogh impressing, Championship clubs were interested in signing him.

Cardiff City, Bristol City, Leeds United and Derby were the main teams chasing Keogh. But it was Derby who signed him, and he joined for £1 million, with Cardiff eventually pulling out of a deal as they could not match Derby’s wages.

Keogh would go on to play at Pride Park for the next eight seasons and would become a key figure in the Derby defence for years to come.

Named club captain the day after his arrival, he would retain the title for the entirety of his time at the club. Upon being given the armband, he said: "I thrive on the pressure. I feel it brings out the best in me. It's something I look forward to and I cannot wait to get out there and play."

The Irishman would live up to those words. He would go on to make over 40 appearances in each of his seven full campaigns with Derby, becoming an ever-present in the side.

He would win the club’s Player of the Year in his first season and led them to the play-off final the next season, where he would make a huge error, gifting the ball to striker Bobby Zamora in injury time, with the striker going on to score and send QPR to the Premier League, breaking Derby's hearts.

Keogh, though, would go on to pick up many personal accolades. In 2015, he would be named in the Championship PFA Team of the Year. In 2016, he would once again be named the club’s Player of the Year, and also the Players’ Player of the Year.

Winning the Players’ Player of the Year award again in 2019 following another play-off final loss, it would be his last full season with the club.

Despite Keogh's exit, he should be remembered fondly

In September 2019, Keogh was involved in a car crash with teammates Mason Bennett and Tom Lawrence.

He would injure himself, tearing his ACL, leaving him out for 15 months. His contract was then terminated in October 2019.

The Irishman would revitalise his career afterwards, playing for various teams across the EFL since his return, eventually finding himself in League Two with Forest Green Rovers before foraying into the coaching world, including Blackpool and Barnsley. He would take interim charge of the former, winning a game against Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup.

For Derby, as they look back on Keogh, there is no doubt that at £1 million - for the amount of games Keogh played (over 350) for the club, and how well he did - he was a bargain and should be fondly remembered.