Derby County appear to have overtaken Wrexham in their quest to bring Lewis Travis to Pride Park, according to Football League World.
Derby County finished 19 in last season’s Championship, avoiding relegation back to League One at the first time of asking. DCFC saw their survival bid sparked into life after the appointment of John Eustace as manager.
The Rams went on a club-record-equalling losing streak between Christmas and February and Eustace’s appointment in place of Paul Warne helped County stabilise with crucial wins at Plymouth Argyle, West Brom and Hull City.
The Rams have yet to make a signing so far this summer, though manager Eustace has been linked with a host of former players, predominantly ones from former club Blackburn Rovers. Among them has been captain Lewis Travis, and a fresh update on his situation has emerged.
According to Football League World, rumoured admirs Wrexham have cooled their interest in midfielder Travis amid new developments in their transfer strategy, leaving the door open for Derby County to make their move.
Blackburn Rovers apparently want a fee of around £2m for the 27-year-old, who featured 38 times in the Championship last season.
Amid the interest elsewhere, it is said that Rovers have offered Travis a new three-year deal in order to retain his services for the foreseeable as his contract expires in the summer of 2026.
Derby County now appear to have their noses in front in the race to sign Travis though with questions persisting over his Rovers future.
Travis or Adams… or Travis and Adams?
The addition of Travis would be an excellent addition for Derby County were they able to bringing him to Pride Park. A vastly experienced Championship midfielder, he’d be able to provide competition for Ebou Adams in the middle of the pitch and technically improve the Rams’ midfield.
Though Adams trumps Travis in defensive statistics with reference to recoveries, tackles won and areal duals won, Travis is comfortably better than Adams with respect to ball retention and progression with the ball. The Blackburn Rovers man has an 85% pass accuracy in comparison to Adams’ 72%. In addition, Travis has a far better successful long-ball rate than Adams.
This may suggest that Eustace could look to return to his 4-2-3-1 style seen at Blackburn Rovers before his departure. It could point towards Travis and Adams forming a new midfield partnership for DCFC too.
Plenty of work to do at Derby County
Derby County desperately need to focus elsewhere and bring in attacking quality.
With set pieces contributing to nearly a third of all of their goals last season and the conclusion of Jerry Yates’ loan at Pride Park, the Rams need to identify assets that can add more goals after a relegation battle last season.
DCFC aren’t defensively complete by any stretch either though. They may need to reinforce their wider areas with an injury-prone Callum Elder and ageing Craig Forsyth, who could find himself out of contract, the only left-footed defenders in the first team.
Kane Wilson’s one-year contract extension may also mean that Derby County will look to cash in on him this summer if they can’t tie him down to a longer deal. This would leave them with two right-backs, both of whom missed large portions of the season with injuries in Joe Ward and Ryan Nyambe.
