Derby County's Championship status is still hanging on by a thread ahead of the final weekend of the season.

A crunch clash with Sheffield Wednesday at Pride Park awaits, and there's a chance that both teams could end up in League One next season should the Owls come out victorious and Rotherham also win away at Cardiff.

Derby have not been in the third tier of English football since 1986, and with a potentially lucrative takeover from Spanish businessman Erik Alonso in the works - though that is up for debate - they cannot afford to go down a division with the plans he has to try and get the Rams back to the Premier League.

Looking at a best-case scenario for Derby, which would be to win on Saturday to make sure they are in the Championship next season, the squad needs strengthening massively to make a top half, or a play-off push next season.

Let's look at nine past transfer rumours that the Rams could revisit this summer, with some potential outgoings looked at as well.

If Derby's takeover doesn't come to fruition (it should do, but you never know) then the club would surely have to cash in on one of their assets.

Perhaps their most valuable commodity right now is Knight, who has had a sudden rise since his introduction into the senior ranks last season.

20-year-old Knight scored six times in the Championship and his development has continued into the current campaign, playing 42 times in the league and has captained the club on a few occasions.

Knight was linked to both Premier League sides Burnley and Leeds in January and it wouldn't be a shock to see a top flight club make a move for the Ireland international in the summer.

Along with Knight, Leeds United were linked with a move for Sibley, an attacking midfielder who had a sudden breakthrough last season.

The 19-year-old came to the attention of many when he netted a hat-trick away at Millwall, finishing the 2019-20 season with five goals in 11 outings.

It's been a relatively quiet 2020/21 for Sibley though, who has scored just once in 30 appearances, completing 90 minutes just once as well all season.

He's still young and obviously talented, but it remains to be seen if he's still on the radar of Premier League clubs this coming summer.

Derby's lack of striking options may be one of the reasons as to why they sunk so far down the table, with just Colin Kazim-Richards, Martyn Waghorn and January signing Lee Gregory to call upon.

For much of January, it looked as though the Rams wanted to bring in experienced Sheffield United scorer Billy Sharp to Pride Park, with the veteran not playing much at Bramall Lane in the top flight.

It was reported that Derby had a late window approach for Sharp knocked back, but if they stay in the Championship that move may be revisited.

On the flip side, Sharp started appearing a lot more for the Blades following the alleged bid that was turned down until he was sidelined, and he may have a part to play in the Championship for them next season.

Before Derby ended up bringing Patrick Roberts in from Manchester City, they were linked with Murphy, who had been out of favour at the Bluebirds.

The transfer window passed without a move for the winger though, and Mick McCarthy has used him a bit more than Neil Harris did this season, although he's not completed a 90 minutes under McCarthy.

It remains to be seen whether or not Murphy has a future in South Wales, but one thing is for sure - if Derby remain in the Championship they'll definitely need new wingers.

Murphy would probably command a transfer fee, but with Alonso's apparent wealth he should be well within reach.

Derby hoped to reach a deal with former Everton striker Niasse in January, but it failed to materialise in the end but whilst there were work permit issues to resolve, the Senegalese striker eventually joined Huddersfield Town.

Not long after he arrived in Yorkshire though, Niasse suffered an injury in training which ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign - meaning he could leave Huddersfield this summer without playing a game.

Niasse and Wayne Rooney played together for Everton in the 2017-18 season and that's maybe why Rooney was apparently keen to get him into the club, and it's something that could crop up again this summer as Derby need strikers.

Darmstadt striker Dursun was near the top of Derby's shopping list in January according to The Athletic, but just like in the last summer transfer window, nothing materialised.

The 29-year-old has continued to score goals in Germany's second tier - 21 in 30 outings to be precise this season - and he is out of contract at the end of this season.

The Rams though could miss out on the sharp-shooter once again, as reports in Germany state that he's had talks with Hamburg ahead of a potential summer move.

Considering they could enter pre-contract talks with Dursun immediately, Derby would be foolish to not try and get him in as he seems like a natural goalscorer.

This one would be a very ambitious one, but signing Dembele would be a huge statement of intent for the soon-to-be new owner Alonso.

Peterborough have been promoted to the Championship so if all goes well against the Owls, Derby will be facing them next season, but Dembele himself handed in a transfer request back in January, which suggests he's eyeing the exit door with a year left on his deal this summer.

Posh always get the best fees for their players and re-invest, and Derby were one of a host of teams interested in the diminutive winger in January.

He would likely cost a few million pounds, but from what we've seen of him in League One this season he'd definitely offer something different to the Rams.

Derby were linked with an audacious loan swoop for Rooney's former Manchester United team-mate Jones in January, with the former England international well down the pecking order at Old Trafford.

Jones needs to revitalise his career somewhere and it's not going to be at the Red Devils, but the issue is he's contracted there until 2023.

A loan move would probably be more realistic for Jones, and if Derby could pay a little bit towards his wages - as let's be honest who is going to pay his full rumoured £75,000 a week wage - then Pride Park could be the place for Jones to find his feet once again.

After looking like he was unfancied at Aston Villa in the first half of the season, Davis was linked away with a loan move to Championship clubs, including Derby.

Davis though was kept around as back-up for Ollie Watkins as Wesley was still out with a knee injury, and several substitute appearances in the second half of the season led to him scoring his first ever Premier League goal against West Brom.

With Wesley now fit again though and Villa perhaps searching for another striker, the possibility of Davis going out on loan next season might be quite high and Derby could swoop in to try and make a play for the 23-year-old.