Derby County Opinion: Why the Rams should make a move for Damian Oko

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Derby County are interested in Zaglebie Lubin defender Damian Oko. The left-sided central defender is valued at £2million.

Damian Oko, 22, started his career at Zaglebie Lubin, progressing through the club’s youth ranks before making his first-team debut in October last year. He managed 17 appearances in his debut season in the top tier of Polish football, impressing with a series of standout performances.

And those performances have caught the attention of Derby County, who will be desperate to put the play-off final disappointment behind them as Frank Lampard plans for next season.

The Rams have already snapped up Graeme Shinnie on a free transfer from Aberdeen and are looking out for reinforcements to mount another assault on promotion. Lampard has a very good squad but the departures of Fikayo Tomori, Harry Wilson and Mason Mount following the expiry of their loan spells have weakened the team.

While Wilson and Mount impressed in the final third of the pitch, Tomori came off age and was a rock at the back alongside skipper, Richard Keogh. Tomori’s return back to parent club Chelsea will hurt Derby more, considering Lampard already has very fewer options in central defence.

Keogh is edging towards the twilight of his career and so is Curtis Davies, who spent almost the entire campaign on the sidelines due to Achilles injury. The Rams have released Efe Ambrose, who was signed on a short-term deal in the second half of the season but didn’t make a single appearance.

Thus, interest in Damian Oko makes proper sense. Oko is a talented and promising young central defender, who under the guidance of Lampard can only get better in the coming years. The Pole had a solid debut season with Zaglebie Lubin and has the attributes to thrive in the Championship. He is decent on the ball and would really fit into Lampard’s system, bringing balance in central defence.

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Derby will need to strengthen in defence this summer, not least due to the crisis at the back, and Oko’s performances in Poland have shown he could be a good addition. He isn’t experienced and has just completed his debut season in his country, but at £2million, the 22-year-old will be worth the gamble.

Verdict

If Derby are to challenge for promotion again next season, Lampard needs to make some bargain signings over the summer. And an unknown quantity like Oko is the sort of signing the Rams need to be doing ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.