This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County are facing a huge summer period whatever division they happen to be playing in with the takeover of the club needing to be sorted out and then new additions made to the squad.

The Rams are facing a massive final day of the season where they know they have to get all three points against Sheffield Wednesday to be assured of their safety. Whether they are relegated or not will have a major say as to what sort of transfer business they look to conduct in the summer.

It is being reported by Football Insider that one of their targets in the summer, if they do stay up, could be Brighton defender Shane Duffy. The centre-back is thought to be a player that is admired by Rooney and someone who the Derby boss would like to bring into the club should he get the chance to do so.

Brighton are believed to not have the defender within their plans for next term when he returns from a disappointing loan spell with Celtic. The Seagulls are thought to be willing to sanction another loan move for the defender in the summer.

With Derby interested in making a potential move for Duffy, we asked out FLW writers whether they felt it would be a good potential signing for the club…

Phil Spencer

This would be an outstanding move if the club could pull it off.

Shane Duffy is a top-quality player having played for both Brighton and Celtic over the last 12 months, that's why it's no surprise that the Rams would be keen. Form is temporary.

Whether they can pull off a move, however, remains to be seen.

Duffy would be a pricy deal to do and given the current position of Wayne Rooney's side I think that he can do better than a move to Pride Park.

That said, there's no doubt that it'd be a good move if Derby pull it off.

Toby Wilding

This is an interesting one for Derby to consider in my opinion.

When you look at their squad at the minute, it does seem as though they will need to add some centre backs to their side ahead of the new season.

Duffy is of course someone who can fill that role, and his experience at Championship level would certainly be useful for the Rams as they look to recover from what has been such a disappointing year.

However, you feel Duffy is unlikely to be cheap, which could be a risk given Derby's financial uncertainty that currently surrounds the club, and the fact that the defender has not always convinced during his loan with Celtic this season, meaning there feels like no guarantee that this would be a successful deal.

George Harbey

I’m not too sure about this one.

Duffy has obviously been successful at this level before with Brighton, but his form has really tailed off of late.

He has endured a tough season at Celtic and has been guilty of making too many errors, and I think for the wages he’d be on, it would be a risk.

Derby need a rebuild this summer regardless of whichever division they are in, and the Rams should explore younger targets who can help them in the long-term rather than just being a short-term fix.