Derby County boss Wayne Rooney is in tough contract talks regarding full-back Lee Buchanan, it has been claimed.
Alan Nixon reports via Patreon that Rooney is locked in a "contract war" with the 21-year-old's advisers.
Buchanan's contract was due to expire at the end of this month, which would have seen him become a free agent, however, Nixon reports that the Rams have exercised their option to extend Buchanan's deal with the club for a further year whilst in administration.
The EFL see no problem with this and have backed Derby's decision, but representatives of Buchanan believe that they seemingly should be allowed to leave for free, with Nixon stating several clubs are keen to take the 21-year-old if he available for nothing.
Buchanan made his Derby County debut during the 2019/20 campaign, when he featured against Scunthorpe United in the EFL Cup first round.
The left-back would go on to make a further six senior appearances for the Rams that campaign, but it was not until the following season that he really broke through.
In 2020/21, the youngster racked up 37 appearances for the club, with 35 of these coming in the Championship.
Buchanan added another 31 appearances to his Rams tally in 2021/22, taking his total number of appearances for the club to 75.
The Verdict
This seems a bizarre situation with regards to Lee Buchanan's contract situation.
The young full-back's advisers seemingly have an issue with the fact the Rams exercised their right to extend Buchanan's contract whilst in administration, but if the EFL are backing the Rams' decision, it is hard to see where they go from here with things.
Several clubs are said to be ready to move for the player if available on a free, which is perhaps driving Buchanan's representatives in this situation.
It is yet another messy situation for Derby County to deal with at the moment, albeit does pale in significance compared to their current takeover woes.
Following Chris Kirchner's proposed takeover falling through, the club are almost back to square one in their search for a new owner, although there could be, seemingly, interested parties ready to pounce.