According to the Mail Online, Derby County are showing a degree of interest in young Polish defender Damian Oko.
Derby came on strong last season to not only push into the play-off places, but to advance to the Play-Off Final at Wembley, losing out to eventual winners Aston Villa for a place in the Premier League.
Much of that achievement was done on the back of an increasingly solid and cohesive defensive unit built around Richard Keogh and Chelsea loanee Fikayo Tomori.
However, with Chelsea facing the very real prospect of a two-window transfer ban, the Blues are said to be holding on to loaned out players from last season who made an impact. Fikayo was definitely one of those, improving as the season went on for the Rams.
With that eventuality staring them in the face, the Pride Park outfit would be sensible to look elsewhere, and the Mail Online’s take is that they have done just that with interest in one-cap Poland Under-21 international Oko.
Oko currently plays for Zaglebie Lubin, who play their trade in Poland’s top tier competition the Ekstraklasa. He featured in 17 Ekstraklasa games last season for Lubin, as well as 13 appearances for their second side in the nation’s third-tier competition.
With Fikayo likely to be held onto by Chelsea, then experience gained playing regularly in Poland’s top-tier competition may be enough to sway the Rams and persuade them into making a move for Boleslawiec-born Oko, a central defender with the ability to play in both centre-back slots.
