Derby Eyeing Ogbene
Wednesday, 29th Jul 2026 09:52

Derby County are reportedly eyeing Blues winger Chieo Ogbene in addition to forward Sammie Szmodics.

The Rams have been in discussions with Town regarding Szmodics, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Pride Park where his former Blackburn boss John Eustace is now in charge.

The Midlanders were hoping to do a deal which would see them pay an initial £2 million rising to £4 million, but the Blues want more money for the 30-year-old they splashed out £9 million on in the summer of 2024.

Other Championship clubs are also interested, however, links with Birmingham City have been dismissed.

Szmodics missed the pre-season training camp at La Manga having picked up a minor knock.

According to Derbyshire Live, Ogbene has also been under consideration by the Rams.

The 29-year-old, like Szmodics an Irish international, spent last season on loan at Sheffield United and a return to another Championship club for the campaign would be little surprise.

Ogbene, who was perhaps Town’s standout performer in the 0-0 friendly draw with FC Cartagena on Saturday, has another two years on his contract having signed from Luton for £8 million in August 2024.

Photo: ITFC

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FreddySteady added 10:15 - Jul 29 I’d keep him for this season. Never really had a proper chance and he’s rapid. Get Delap back too. I may be in the minority here..
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Juanforthemoney added 10:21 - Jul 29 I agree that he's never had much of a chance here but as for bringing Delap back..no thanks, we can do better than that now. He would be suspended almost every 6 weeks!
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_CliveBaker_ added 10:24 - Jul 29 £6m for the pair. 1/3 of what we paid but we are where we are, gets them off the wage bill, they're not getting any younger and I can't see either of them adding much in the Premier League. 2 poor signings really, albeit injuries haven't helped.
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Edmundo added 10:47 - Jul 29 Ten million and they're yours!
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 11:01 - Jul 29 A lot of eyeing going on these days
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 11:07 - Jul 29 Would expect Szmodics to leave, and that's ok. Ogbene has been pretty good so far pre-season, and I do wonder what he could do given an injury-free run. Could be quite a handful.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 11:07 - Jul 29 Would expect Szmodics to leave, and that's ok. Ogbene has been pretty good so far pre-season, and I do wonder what he could do given an injury-free run. Could be quite a handful.
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Bazza8564 added 11:16 - Jul 29 Ogbone will be down the pecking order on the right behind Fatawu, McAteer and possibly even Burns, unless GO wants to use him on the ;eft like saturday we are better of just getting him away and into a decent long term deal
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blueoutlook added 11:20 - Jul 29

I’d keep Ogbene. Some players are suited to the Premiership better. I think Ogbene is one of those. He is so fast over a distance,just what you need in the PL and he has the build for it to.
As for Sammy, well he is a disappointment. Expected more from him. Instead we got a player with an unsettling influence in the squad apparently.
Derby can’t afford to lay out what we want for Sammy by the sound of it , how will they afford both ?

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BerksBlue15 added 11:22 - Jul 29 Both two of the higher earners on the books (at least based on what's available online). Both on £25k a week each, which has no doubt increased as a result of promotion. Chance to get around £3m a year off the wage bill, plus whatever we get in transfer fees. £7.5m for both would be a decent bit of business all things considered, I think.
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AndySav04 added 11:29 - Jul 29 CliveBaker_ I feel exactly the same way you do overspent on both these two by paying another 2M quid extra mainly because they are Irish Internationals + also had their most notable seasons prior to their transfers to Town. The fact Derby is interested in both is most convenient and would be great business for both clubs.
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AndySav04 added 11:29 - Jul 29 CliveBaker_ I feel exactly the same way you do overspent on both these two by paying another 2M quid extra mainly because they are Irish Internationals + also had their most notable seasons prior to their transfers to Town. The fact Derby is interested in both is most convenient and would be great business for both clubs.
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Bert added 12:14 - Jul 29 I think Ogbene has the potential to be a decent player but if he doesn't get game time then it is of little benefit to club and player.
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tractorboybig added 12:53 - Jul 29 Complete waste of money off load asap
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Runner added 13:05 - Jul 29 I think most on here are near the mark. £6M, for both, with some add ons for games played over this coming season, i.e. £1m each if either or both play 20 games.
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tetchris added 13:20 - Jul 29 Two players were overpaid for initially and now will struggle to get anything like what we paid back for them. Our recruitment that summer was poor and these two are examples of that.
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Klassic_Ben added 13:24 - Jul 29

As others have mentioned £6/8 & derby can have them both.

Can’t believe people are suggesting Ogbene could play a role this season, no harm to him it was a shame he got injured but c’mon - the guy barely played for Sheffield United while he was on loan there last season!
Only way I could see us using him would be on the left or as an attacking midfielder & tbh we can do better - best for all if he moves on I feel…

As for Szmodics, seems his time is up - kept hearing rumours of an incident involving him & McAteer; any truth to that or is it just hearsay?

blue added 14:16 - Jul 29 Keep Ogbene injury hit now back to himself . He wants to stay and prove he still got what it takes to,played well in friendlies so far onwards and upwards ogbene .
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BlueWax added 14:25 - Jul 29 I would def keep Oggy....if he now stays injury free i think he can push to be a regular!
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ThaiBlue added 15:10 - Jul 29 Get 7million for both of them they are miles away from getting into the 1st team.
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Linkboy13 added 15:46 - Jul 29 We've got to be more ambitious this time in the Premier league can't keep hoping players who haven't done it for ages are going to come off eventually just on a inkling and one preseason friendly.
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ITFC_1994 added 15:49 - Jul 29

Agree with others - complete waste of money on Smodz and Ogbene... however Ogbene felt like a really good signing at the time but the injury killed his town career, sadly. Derby will be a good move for him. Smodz on the other hand, i think that was always going to fail, was clearly a one season wonder and turns out he is a massive ****end...

Getting 5 - 6m for the pair would be good business.... Any chance we can swap them for Agyemang??

Slightly unrelated but what's happened to Ogbene really shows how well Wes has done to come back from his injury, still offer so much to the team and earn a new contract... Any chance to heap a bit of praise on our Wes eh

jas0999 added 16:32 - Jul 29 We need to be realistic. Neither are good enough if we want to survive in the PL. SS days have perhaps been numbered for a while. Ogbene couldn’t get a kick when on loan at Sheffield United. We will sign much better and need to free up spaces in the squad. Wish both well, and for the good of their careers hope they move on sooner rather than later.
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Monkey_Blue added 16:42 - Jul 29 Those suggesting we keep him need to check themselves. We have a squad limit and as useful as he may be having Burns, Fatuwa, Egeli, Macateer and ogbene as right side options with only Egeli not counting towards the limit severely restricts who you can register in other positions or would force you to only sign youngsters
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blues1 added 17:09 - Jul 29 Juanforthemoney. While im with you in not particularly wanting delap back. How many times,was he suspended last time he was here? Once that i can recall. Twice at most. So not sure where u get, that hed be suspended every 6 weeks
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