With Pride Park returning to the Championship, Derby County will be hoping that it becomes an even more alluring destination to draw in new players.
Paul Warne’s Rams haven’t wasted any time in pursuing a variety of targets, with rumors circulating about Barnsley midfielder Herbie Kane, among others. The recently promoted team intends to enter the second division undeterred by the increase in caliber after spending some time in the League One wilderness.
It is improbable that the Rams will accomplish the same miracle in this transfer window as they did in 2000, when they signed a maverick who was once considered by Barcelona before relocating to Derbyshire.
Derby’s Georgi Kinkladze era
Georgi Kinkladze is better remembered by English football fans for his time at Manchester City, where the attacking midfielder from Georgia would record 115 appearances, 21 goals, and five assists. However, his time at Derby following his time at City may go unnoticed.
After first arriving on loan from Dutch powerhouse Ajax, Kinkladze cost £3 million to join the Rams in 2000. He would become known for his mysterious appearance in Derby white and his ability to pull off deft and cunning plays.
With “speechless” ability when it came to the ball, former Rams colleague Danny Higginbotham said of the exciting 5′ 8″ forward, who played for Derby for four seasons and scored seven goals and picked up nine assists.
Despite many of his former teammates waxing lyrical about his immense ability, the former Man City great would even play for Derby in the division below the top flight for a brief period of time. Former Rams defender Wayne Barton also described Kinkladze as a “wonderful little player” in an interview with DerbyshireLive in 2021. Before calling it quits on this phase of his career in 2004 to move out to Cyprus.
Derby wouldn’t be out of pocket even after accounting for today’s rising expenditures, according to a comparison of the attractive Georgian’s current market value using TotallyMoney’s Transfer Index.
In every season since 1992, Totally Money has acquired the top 100 most expensive transactions ever made in each of the top five European leagues. Equipped with an abundance of past financial records, they have computed the current value of former football players, accounting for the notable inflation rate.
The transfer value of Kinkladze in 2024
Kinkladze would only cost the Rams £11.4 million if this same coup attempt were to succeed in 2024, which doesn’t seem like a very high price to pay.
The former Derby midfielder would thus become the most expensive signing in Rams history, though not by much— Matej Vydra is still Derby’s all-time record acquisition at £8 million.
| Derby’s most expensive signings – top five | |
|---|---|
| 1. Matej Vydra | £8m |
| 2. Krystian Bielik | £7m |
| 3. Bradley Johnson | £6.9m |
| 4. Tom Ince | £5.7m |
| 5. Martyn Waghorn | £4.7m |
| Sourced by Transfermarkt | |
While at the club, Vydra only managed to score 20 more goals than Kinkladze, but he did so as an all-around striker, which helped to partially justify the ex-Man City player’s exorbitant fee.
Fans of Derby will always remember him as a maverick to Derby supporters and as a magician in the Sky Blue half of Manchester. Looking ahead, Rams supporters will want to see more exciting Championship games for their team and honor new heroes along the way.
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