The Sun reports that Derby County are seeking to replace the departed Tom Ince with Leicester City forward Tom Lawrence. The Welshman impressed whilst on out on loan in the Sky Bet Championship last season with Ipswich Town. Gary Rowett’s side are plotting a £7million bid for the talented 23-year-old.
With Ince now a Huddersfield Town player, Rowett understands the importance of quickly filling this void. With Lawrence proven at this level, and seemingly unable to force his way into Craig Shakespeare’s plans at the King Power Stadium, a move to Derby appears to be in the pipeline for Lawrence.
Since making the move to Leicester in 2014 from Manchester United, Lawrence has played just FOUR times for the Foxes, three of which came from the bench. He has had much more joy when away from the club on temporary deals. Following a brief stint at Rotherham, he made decent impressions at Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City, before stepping things up a level with Ipswich.
Derby are certainly aiming for an ambitious campaign next season and are already looking to use some of the Ince and Will Hughes cash received on new recruits. Curtis Davies from Hull City has already joined, plus Brentford’s Jota has been heavily linked as well.
Lawrence was named as Ipswich’s Player of the Season last year, and without his goals the club wouldn’t certainly been embroiled in more of a serious relegation struggle. He scored eleven goals for the Tractor Boys, failing to net in the 1-0 away win and 3-0 home defeats against Derby in their two meetings.
