Derby County are reportedly interested in signing Jordon Ibe from Bournemouth, according to reports.

Although it is unlikely, it will be no surprise if Derby succeed in their audacious swoop, after securing the services of Wayne Rooney as a player-coach on an 18-month contract from January.

The former Liverpool winger signed for Bournemouth in a £15m deal more than three years ago.

Despite a positive first-half to his career on the South coast, where they were winning 43.8% of their games with him, compared to 10% without him, Ibe's role diminished last season with the Englishman only making more substitute appearances (10) than starting appearances (9).

Ibe has spent time in Derby previously, with a loan spell in 2014-15 where he scored five goals and secured one assist in 20 appearances.

In the event of the Rams capturing the winger, there would be positives and negatives to the deal.

Pro: Versatile attacker

A strength of Jordon Ibe's attacking ability is that he has the potential to play across the attacking behind the striker. This versatility would prove delightful for any manager, but it would prove to be even better for Phillip Cocu.

The Dutch manager showed his frequent change of systems throughout his debut fixture against Huddersfield Town. Cocu switched from a 4-2-3-1 in possession, to a 4-3-3 in defence, and then a 4-4-2 in the second-half, as detailed by The Athletic writer Ryan Conway.

Ibe would fit perfectly into this style.

Pro: Depth

Depth supplements a good team. Strong depth in the right system creates an electric pool of talent. Capturing the 23-year-old will push Derby even more into the latter.

To have the choice of Jordon Ibe, Wayne Rooney (in January), Tom Lawrence, Florian Jozefzoon, Mason Bennett, Martyn Waghorn and Jack Marriot would give Cocu the undeniable luxury of quality in depth. It will give greater fuel to the promotion rocket ship Mel Morris is craving.

Con: Lacking creative spark 

One worrying aspect of Ibe's attacking style is that his creative statistics are short of what is expected from a young, explosive winger. In more than 3,800 minutes in the Premier League with Bournemouth, Ibe has only collected seven assists, as well as averaging only 0.8 key passes per game.

Though, it would be expected that a drop in division would improve these numbers. Instead of facing the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool, he would be playing for one of the best teams in the division on paper, and one of the most exciting managers.

However, as football always reminds us, it's never easier than it seems.

Con: Defensive solidity

Even though it is less of a concern for Ibe and Cocu by being an attacking player, Ibe's defensive contribution will nonetheless be put under a microscope. Cocu prefers to implement an attacking press when his team is out of possession. This means Ibe would need work at a high rate if he was to join Derby.

In the last three seasons combined, Ibe only averages 0.4 tackles per game. In contrast, Waghorn averaged one a game under Frank Lampard, who implemented a similar pressing to Cocu. While style and opposition would have influenced these stats, Ibe still averages 0.4 tackles per game for his career.

A vast change in his work rate would need to be implemented for Ibe to fit into Cocu's style.