Derby County take significant action on future of survival hero, Championship rivals will regret huge mistake
Derby County have already got to work in building their squad ahead of the 2025/26 Championship campaign, and John Eustace is quickly starting to put his stamp on the team.
After Kane Wilson’s contract was extended for another year following the confirmation of survival on the final day of the season, the right-back has been joined by another defensive star in committing his future to the Rams.
Matt Clarke joined Derby in January from Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee, however the deal was a short-term one, that was set to expire at the end of June.
It looked as though the Rams were going to have to confirm their survival before the centre-back became a more permanent member of the squad. But after Derby’s rise under Eustace, the decision seemingly became an easy one and supporters will be delighted.
Matt Clarke was crucial to Derby County staying in the Championship, the next three years are exciting
On Thursday morning, the club announced that the 28-year-old had signed a new three-year deal at Pride Park – extending his stay until the summer of 2028.
Eustace will be extremely pleased with the move, as Clarke played a vital role in keeping the East Midlands outfit in the division after Eiran Cashin left for Brighton in the January transfer window for £9m, as per BBC Sport.
Alongside Sondre Langas and Nat Phillips, who was one of Derby’s six loanees this season, the former Portsmouth defender formed a solid wall in front of Jacob Widell Zetterstrom and it was this strength at the back that staved off the drop.
However, there was some concern about his future due to the fact that he had only signed a six-month deal on his arrival, and the Rams have pulled off an excellent move in getting the ex-West Brom player to stay at the club.
Middlesbrough must be regretting their decision to let Matt Clarke go
Five months after he departed, question marks will still be raised over Middlesbrough’s decision to allow themselves to lose a player of Clarke’s quality.
The Teessiders had issues defensively all season long, and the 28-year-old showed a level of consistency that his teammates could not at times and with Michael Carrick’s future uncertain, he will have wished he kept hold of the centre-half for longer.
Derby will meet Middlesbrough once again next season, and they may just fancy their chances against a side that have lacked confidence over the course of the last few months if those struggles continue.
But for Clarke, he will be happy to get his future sorted and with the Rams on an upward trend under Eustace, the transfer may have been his greatest yet.
