With just a year left on his current contract, Derby County will have a big decision to make should Birmingham City make a significant offer for Jason Knight this summer. 

The Blues have been linked with the 21-year-old after Derby's relegation to League One with new manager John Eustace keen to bring the Republic of Ireland international to St Andrew's.

Derby will no doubt do all they can to resist the interest and keep hold of one of their most exciting young talents but as he is now in the final year of his contract, they risk seeing him leave as a free agent next summer if they decide against cashing in on him the current window.

If a deal is agreed with Birmingham then Liam Rosenior will need to sign a midfield replacement and Burnley's Adam Phillips should be a player the club consider.

According to journalist Alan Nixon via Patreon, the Clarets are open to letting the 24-year-old leave on loan this season.

Shrewsbury Town are understood to be leading the race for Phillips but the Rams could look to hijack that move if they are in the market for a Knight replacement.

Phillips is a proven quantity at League One level – having scored six times and provided eight assists as he helped Morecambe avoid relegation while on another loan spell away from Turf Moor last term – and could come in as a stopgap for the 2022/23 campaign.

Derby have already added Conor Hourihane and Korey Smith to their midfield this summer but should the 21-year-old follow Krystian Bielik to Birmingham then Rosenior would be left lacking in depth.

The East Midlands club's transfer policy since David Clowes' takeover shows they're pushing hard to build a squad capable of winning promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking and strength in depth will likely be vital to their chances of achieving that goal.

Losing Knight isn't something that Rams fans will want to consider at this point but the club need to have a contingency plan in place given his current contract situation.

Hijacking the loan move for Phillips could be just that plan.