Exclusive: Rotherham United plot ambitious swoop for ex-Derby County forward | OneFootball

Steve McClaren is eyeing up a player for the Millers that he's managed before

Rotherham United are looking into a free transfer move for a player that has amassed nearly 400 appearances at Championship level, Football League World can exclusively reveal.

The Millers are going to have to get used to life as a League Two club very quickly with the new season fast approaching, having bounced between the Championship and League One for the majority of the last 10 years.

The last three years have not been kind to the South Yorkshire outfit though. Relegated from the second tier in 2024, a 13th-placed League One finish followed, before yet another relegation occurred under Matt Hamshaw's management earlier this year.

That means United will play League Two football for the first time since 2013, but moves have been made by chairman Tony Stewart to try and make it a quick return to the third tier - namely appointing former England manager Steve McClaren as director of football.

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One of his first jobs was to find a successor for the outgoing Hamshaw, and after a few knock-backs from other individuals, Salford City assistant manager Alex Bruce was settled on as the new head coach, and he will oversee a new-look squad for 2026-27, with no fewer than 16 Millers players departing at the end of the recent season.

Four fresh faces have arrived at the New York Stadium in the form of Aaron Nemane, Fabio Tavares, Jamie Jellis and Ossama Ashley, but plenty more are needed to make Rotherham competitive - and DoF McClaren is eyeing up a player he knows very well to add to Bruce's squad.

Rotherham United eyeing Andreas Weimann move

FLW understands that former Austria international Andreas Weimann is being eyed up by McClaren and Rotherham ahead of the new season, having become a free agent following the expiry of his contract with Derby County.

The Rams are the mutual connection between the two, with McClaren managing the versatile attacker during his second stint in charge at Pride Park - Weimann actually joined the club from Aston Villa not long after he was sacked as manager after the 2014-15 season, but his return in 2016 saw the two link up for five months.

In a professional career that has so far lasted 16 years, Weimann has played 397 times in the Championship and its play-offs, whilst also appearing 113 times in Premier League action - his best season for a club coming in 2021-22 at Bristol City, when he rattled home 22 goals and 10 assists in 46 league outings for the Robins.

More recently after his stint at Ashton Gate ended in 2024, Weimann has been at both Blackburn Rovers and Derby County again on a permanent basis, although he saw out the final few months of his Pride Park contract back in his home country of Austria with Rapid Wien on loan, before his exit from John Eustace's side was announced.

Now a free agent, Weimann - who can play all across the forward line and as an attacking midfielder - is looking for a new club at the age of 34, and Rotherham are set to offer him an ambitious chance to carry on his career in English football should he wish to do so.