Two former Derby County chairmen in Peter Gadsby and Andy Appleby are set to join forces to try and take over the Rams, per Alan Nixon in The Sun on Sunday (December 19, page 69).

Wayne Rooney's side, who are sat at the bottom of the Championship table after incurring a total of 21 points worth of deductions this season, have been in the control of administrators since September.

The front-runner to become new Derby owner all along has been American businessman Chris Kirchner, with Rooney recently telling administrators to try and push a deal through.

However Quantuma are still yet to name a preferred bidder for the club and two former custodians of the Rams could be set to make a return if they are successful in their attempts.

A lifelong Derby fan, Gadsby was chairman of the club when they earned promotion back to the Premier League in 2007 but failed in an attempt to purchase County in 2010 from their then-American owners.

Appleby meanwhile was chairman of the club between 2008 and 2015 and is seeking out the possibility of a potential return.

And whilst neither the American or Gadsby have enough finances to buy the club outright themselves, they are hoping to come together and with the help of other investors be the ones to save County from going out of business.

The Verdict

This would be an interesting turn of events with two former custodians joining forces.

Appleby was the man to replace Gadsby as chairman of the Rams in 2008 and both men clearly believe they can offer something to get their former club out of trouble.

As we get closer to 2022 though there is still no preferred buyer named by the administrator and it appears that Wayne Rooney is going to be frustrated in the January transfer window.

Due to attempted legal action from the likes of Wycombe and Middlesbrough this is dragging out a lot longer than anticipated but could Gadsby and Appleby be the saviours? Let's wait and see.