'Not the most ambitious move' - Derby County eyeing up swoop for Championship player: The verdict

Football League World

By George Harbey

Published Aug 17, 2020

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 have been linked with the signing of Stoke City forward Lee Gregory, as per the Daily Mail.

Phillip Cocu will be looking to add more firepower to his attacking line this summer, with leading goalscorer Chris Martin recently leaving the club upon the expiry of his contract at Pride Park.

According to the Daily Mail, Derby, as well as Huddersfield Town, are considering a move for Gregory, who only has one year left on his deal at Stoke.

The 31-year-old signed for the Potters from Millwall last summer, scoring six goals in 41 games for the Staffordshire outfit.

Here, the FLW team discuss this potential signing for the Rams...

Sam Rourke

I'm not fully convinced.

I won't deny that Gregory knows where the back of the net is in the Championship, but he's not the sort of striker that will net you 20+ goals.

If the Rams want to be serious about securing promotion this season, I feel they should be attempting to sign a striker who has a more clinical strike-rate in-front of goal, and perhaps one who is a bit younger than Gregory, who is 31.

You have to question whether Gregory would really be an upgrade on the likes of Jack Marriott and Martyn Waghorn who are at Pride Park already, and in truth, I can think of numerous other EFL sides who would be a better fit for the striker.

He'd be a decent squad player to have at Derby on a rotational basis, but he'd not be my priority if I was Cocu.

Ned Holmes

It's a safe option for Derby but it's not the most ambitious move, you'd have to say.

With Chris Martin gone, they need to add more options to their forward line and Gregory has proven himself a dependable striker at Championship level.

Things didn't work out for him last term at Stoke and with the arrival of Steven Fletcher, you feel he may be excess to requirements.

That in addition to the fact he only has one year left on his current deal, suggests that Derby could snap him up cheaply.

Gregory is a dependable striker but I'm not sure he's going to blow the league away and in that sense could the Rams try and be a little more ambitious? I think they probably could.