Frank Lampard transfer coup at Derby County still defies belief: View | OneFootball

Ashley Cole joined the Rams in January 2019, and ended up playing a key role in the team's season.

Derby County's 2018/19 campaign may have ended in disappointment, but supporters were treated to an incredibly exciting team that was filled with players that have gone on to great things.

Harry Wilson, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount all joined the Rams on loan in the summer of 2018 ahead of the new Championship season, and since then, all three have played in the Premier League.

Mount lifted the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021, just two years after his loan at Pride Park expired, while Tomori has won the Serie A title with AC Milan in Italy.

Despite the exciting trio going on to have great careers, their deals perhaps did not stun the footballing world as much as one of Frank Lampard's final signings of his Derby tenure.

With the Rams struggling with injuries at left-back, manager Lampard brought his former Chelsea and England teammate to DE24, Ashley Cole, to fill in when needed - a move that shocked supporters of not just Derby, but also fans of other clubs across the country.

It was a deal that encapsulated the Mel Morris era at the club, with the publicity of the transfer perhaps a bigger win for the club than the quality of Cole's overall performances.

Cole struggled with the pace of the Championship for much of his time at Derby

The then 38-year-old made the move back to England after spending the latter stages of his career in the MLS with LA Galaxy.

He made his debut for the Rams in a last minute cameo role against Hull City at Pride Park in February 2019, with the team already cruising towards a 2-0 victory.

A week later, he played the entirety of the second half against Brighton & Hove Albion in the fifth round of the FA Cup, and scored for the first and only time in the competition, to take Derby back within one goal of the Premier League side, but his header proved to be just a consolation.

Cole started to become more involved in the starting XI, but it was clear that he lacked pace. Due to his know-how, he was able to combat the issue quite well, but at times he was easily beaten, particularly by Nottingham Forest's Joe Lolley in the East Midlands derby.

Nevertheless, he made six more appearances in the league for the Rams, as they finished sixth in the Championship, taking them into the play-offs.

Lampard's team ran out 4–3 winners in the semi-finals against Leeds United in arguably the most exciting and frenetic play-off fixture ever at Elland Road, but, Scott Malone was sent-off in the second leg, and he was forced to miss the final at Wembley against Aston Villa.

This meant that Cole was given the nod to start at the Home of Football, a match that proved to be the last of his extraordinary career. The 38-year-old and his teammates were on the losing side of the tie, following goals from Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn.

Jack Marriott's strike ten minutes from time added tension to the ending of the match, but it was not to be at Wembley for Derby once again, and it was Villa who returned to the Premier League, with Cole retiring just weeks later.

Derby fans will still be in disbelief over the deal

Five years after both Cole and Lampard left Pride Park, there is perhaps still confusion as to how the Rams found themselves in that position.

Since then, Wayne Rooney has played and managed the club, yet in a way, that felt completely normal after the 2018/19 campaign.

Derby never got to see the best of Cole, but supporters will always be able to boast the fact that a player with 107 caps for England donned the Ram. If the play-off final had panned out differently, then perhaps the Chelsea legend would still be lauded to this day.

Nevertheless, the Chelsea legend's final ever game came in a Derby shirt, and that can never be etched out of the history books.