New Derby boss Wayne Rooney was hoping for a prosperous January transfer window with new players incoming, but things haven't gone quite according to plan.

A failure of the club to pay the playing staff's wages in full has resulted in a transfer embargo, meaning Rooney is unable to do any business – that's if he would've been able to anyway with the lack of funds at the club.

As expected incoming transfer rumours are pretty sparse because of the embargo, but there's plenty of speculation on outgoings.

Let's look at the latest transfer news at Pride Park as we enter the final week of the window.

Morrison an option for Rams?

Troubled former Manchester United midfielder Ravel Morrison has recently left Dutch side ADO Den Haag after playing just four league games and is on the hunt for a new club.

Football Insider linked the 27-year-old to both Derby and Nottingham Forest last week, but  Turkish outfit Hatayspor emerged as a potential destination, with the club claiming that a player had failed a medical with them this week.

That's a claim that Morrison has denied, even playing down that he even had an agreement with the club, and if he's looking for a club in England, Rooney might be the man to take a chance on him.

The Derby boss was at Man United at the same time Morrison was rising through the ranks and if there's anyone that can settle his head and get him focused on the pitch, 'Wazza' could be that.

No plans to sell Knight

Having been made captain for the last few games under Rooney's management, Jason Knight is clearly highly thought of at Pride Park, and interest has emerged from Premier League clubs.

But according to The Athletic, Rooney has no plans to cash in on the Ireland international, no matter how bad the finances get at the club.

It's more likely that talented academy starlets are cashed in on that first team youngsters, but don't rule anything out as you never know what may happen in relation to Derby's potential takeover by Sheikh Khaled...

 

7 of these 18 facts about Derby County boss Wayne Rooney are fake – Can you identify which ones aren’t true?

 

 

Embargo set to be lifted

There is good news in relation to transfers though as the embargo placed on the club is set to be lifted on Monday.

That is because, according to the Derby Telegraph, the rest of the unpaid December salaries of the players will be paid, meaning that the Rams can then try and secure new targets in the final week of the window.

The finances they can use will rest on whether or not the Derventio Holdings takeover gets approved, but it gives them a better chance of trying to secure free agents in the meantime such as Oumar Niasse, with Football League World exclusively reporting that the ex-Everton man is of interest to Rooney.