In recent years, Derby County haven't had the best of luck when it's come to transfers, having brought in many players who have failed to impress.

Since 2015, big money had been spent at Pride Park in a bid to help the Rams return to the top flight but that has backfired as there squad has been littered with average players, who are worth less than what Derby paid for them.

There have been some arrivals over the last few years that have turned out to be great signings.

Chris Martin on a free transfer from Norwich in 2013 - who has scored over 60 goals for the Rams - perhaps the stand out bargain.

Tom Ince, Bradley Johnson and George Thorne have all been good signings for the club too, but the number of good signings at Derby has been massively outweighed by the number of bad ones.

So many players have come through the doors over the last couple of years and have simply not performed in a Derby shirt. Nick Blackman, Abdoul Camara, Marcus Olsson and Raul Albentosa to name a few.

Here are TWO of the most bizarre signings that have been made at Derby in the last 15 years...

 

Chris Weale

Quite possibly the most pointless signing Derby have made in recent times.

Released by Yeovil Town in the summer of 2016, Chris Weale then joined Derby on the deadline day to supposedly replace Lee Grant who had left for Stoke.

Weale's time at Pride Park was short-lived as he was released in January without making a single appearance for the first team, his only time wearing a Derby shirt was for the Under 23s side in the Checkatrade Trophy in a 3-2 loss to Mansfield.

Chris Weale was never really needed at Derby, and his time with the East Midlands club certainly won't be the highlight of his career.

Leon Best

Leon Best was signed on loan in 2014 as Steve McClaren's Derby aimed for automatic promotion following play-off heartache in the previous campaign.

It was thought that Best was brought in to provide competition for main man Chris Martin, but that wasn't the case.

Even if another striker was needed at the club, the fans had have hoped for a better signing than a loanee who hadn't been particularly prolific in previous seasons.

Best didn't bag a single goal for Derby and frustrated fans with his inability to find the net.

The frontman had initially signed on a season long loan but that was cut short in January and he returned to parent club Blackburn, whilst Derby replaced him with the loan signing of Darren Bent, who had no problem scoring goals for the Rams.

Derby fans... What do you make of Chris Weale and Leon Best's respective spells at Pride Park? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!