Derby County officially confirmed the signing of Everton attackin-midfielder Kieran Dowell on a season-long loan on Thursday night.

He arrives at Pride Park following a loan stint with Sheffield United and becomes the latest part of Phillip Cocu's bid to put his mark on this Rams' side.

Dowell joined the Blades' promotion charge in January last season and featured regularly for Chris Wilder's side, assisting one goal and scoring twice during his spell, including a crucial winner against West Brom in February.

The 2017/18 season saw him impress in a season-long spell with Derby's arch-rivals Nottingham Forest, during which he notched nine goals and four assists.

He becomes the club's second completed signing of the summer, following the arrival of Graeme Shinnie and the first since Cocu took over from Frank Lampard.

Last season saw Derby finish in sixth place in the Championship standings, going on to reach the play-off final after dramatically beating Leeds United at Elland Road.

But the defeat at Wembley against Aston Villa was to be Lampard's final match in charge, leaving to take the vacant manager's job at Chelsea.

The verdict

I think this is a very good signing for Derby County.

Dowell did well with Sheffield United last season but perhaps did not entirely fit into the system employed by Chris Wilder.

But Derby badly needed somebody to fill the Mason Mounty shaped hole in their team and you would fancy the 21-year-old to be able to do that.

With the guidance of a manager like Cocu it will be very interesting to see how he develops over the coming season as well.