Three former Rams who Derby County could sign as free agents this summer

Derby County have made the step back up the Championship, meaning that they’ll need to strengthen the squad before the season starts.

Manager Paul Warne has previously said that he will sign the majority of his new players via the free agent market as the club don’t have huge figures ready to spend.

With a squad of just 19 players currently, the Derby boss will be keen to add more talent as soon as possible to make sure they will be ready for the season to begin in August.

One option that Warne could look at is signing players that had previously had spells at Pride Park as they would most likely settle in more quickly posing less of a risk.

After having released a number of names, Warne could add some former Rams to provide a quick fix to the squad, much like he did with Martyn Waghorn last summer.

Here are three former Derby players that are due to hit the free agency market.

Max Lowe - Sheffield United

Former Derby academy product Max Lowe is due to become a free agent from Sheffield United this summer. The left wing back spent seven years at Derby before leaving in 2020 when Derby began to hit financial troubles.

He has since played for rivals Nottingham Forest on loan and also Sheffield United. Lowe made 10 Premier League appearances last season before suffering an ankle injury.

The 27 year-old would fit into Paul Warne’s wing-back system and with the Rams thin with depth on the left hand side, he could provide to be a useful signing.

Cyrus Christie - Hull City

Another former Derby full back, Cyrus Christie is set to become a free agent this summer. The Irish international is now 31 and has played for a number of Championship and Premier League clubs including Hull, Fulham and Middlesbrough.

He made over 100 Derby appearances and has 30 caps for Ireland.

Christie would provide more depth at the back as he can play both on the left and right side of defence.

Barry Bannan - Sheffield Wednesday

Bannan is best known for his long nine year spell at Sheffield Wednesday, but the talented midfielder did play for Derby for a season back in 2009 at the start of his career.

He has since made over 430 career appearances and despite being 34 now, is still one of the better playmakers in the Championship.

Excellent from set pieces too, he would provide a good replacement for Conor Hourihane with plenty of experience and quality.

Even though he would not be part of Paul Warne’s long-term plans, he could do a good job in solidifiying Derby as a Championship club again.