Derby County are hoping that Erik Alonso’s proposed takeover offers up a brighter future for the football club.  

It’s been a testing few seasons for the Rams in the Championship, with Phillip Cocu failing to deliver progress on the back of arriving at Pride Park.

Now, it’s the job of Wayne Rooney to deliver at Derby, with the club’s rookie boss potentially backed by a new regime.

Quite how far Alonso’s wallet will take Derby this summer is unclear, but there is another avenue that the Rams might take when it comes to funding the summer overhaul that’s needed.

Football League World understand that West Ham United have taken a keen interest in Lee Buchanan, whilst they are continuing to monitor the situation surrounding Louie Sibley as he looks to rediscover the form he showed after the 2019/20 restart.

In Buchanan and Sibley, Derby have two very saleable assets that will surely pull in an eight-figure sum if they are shipped on to West Ham or any other Premier League suitor in the summer.

Whilst selling two players of this ilk it isn’t the best way to kick-start Alonso’s ownership of the football club, Derby fans would be forgiving if it created a platform for the sort of fruitful summer transfer window the club needs.

The squad at Pride Park is stale and in need of an injection of quality, which is going to be hard to do in tough financial circumstances and with a transfer embargo hanging over the club.

Despite their talent, Buchanan and Sibley can be replaced with the right amount of scouting and, more importantly, cash.

There’s also Rooney’s vast book of contacts that will help fuel Derby’s fire this summer. The former Manchester United and England striker could easily mirror the approach of Frank Lampard by tapping into his Premier League pals looking for a favour or two.

Sometimes in the Championship, taking a step backwards to take two forwards is the best way. Previously, we’ve touched on Norwich City and Sheffield United selling James Maddison and David Brooks before storming on to promotion the following season.

Why can’t that be the same for Derby in the coming year?

Right now, it doesn’t feel like it’s a possibility, but that’s because the building blocks aren’t there for Rooney.

One should in place soon with Alonso’s takeover, but then another needs adding to bolster the transfer kitty as the summer window approaches.

All eyes, then, will be on Alonso and how deep his pockets are, but there’s not really any need for that when you take a look at the saleable assets floating around Pride Park.

They could quite easily provide Rooney with the building blocks that his predecessor went without in the summer of 2020.