Derby County manager Phillip Cocu has spoken about his transfer policy at the club, admitting that he will not be signing players for the sake of it.

The 48-year-old took charge at Derby earlier this month, after Frank Lampard left the club to join Chelsea.

The former PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahce boss signed a four-year deal at Pride Park and immediately joined up with his new players at the Rams' pre-season training camp in Florida.

The Derby squad have now returned to the UK and Cocu spoke to the media for the first time since taking charge of the Rams at a press conference this afternoon, where he offered an insight into his transfer policy at the club.

Cocu admitted that he will not be signing players for the sake of it and is only prepared to sign player if he feels that he can add something to his team.

“We don’t want to block the progression of a young player with talent. We will not buy just to buy, there has to be an idea, and of course, we need a competitive team,” he said.

Cocu has already made one signing at Derby so far this summer, with midfielder Kieran Dowell joining on a season-long loan from Everton last week.

Derby will continue their preparations for the new season with a friendly against Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday afternoon, ahead of their opening game of the season against Huddersfield Town.

The Verdict

I think this is a good mentality to have. There's nothing wrong with signing talented young players and it's important to have healthy competition for places with in the squad, but there's no point in signing players for the sake of it.

Not only would it leave Cocu with an oversized and unbalanced squad, but it could impact on the development of a young player, as it's so important for them to experience regular first-team football at that stage of their career.

Cocu will be looking to put his own stamp on the squad he inherited from Lampard and it will be interesting to see if he makes any further signings before the end of the summer transfer window.

It seems as though he is only prepared to sign players if the move is right for the club and that has to be considered a good thing for Derby fans.