Derby County can already taste the final-day champagne now, knowing that picking up just a point against bottom-of-the-league Carlisle United will be enough to secure promotion back up to the Championship at Pride Park.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s goal at Cambridge United to win 1-0 could well be the decisive strike that sees Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United just narrowly miss out on the automatic promotion positions, the experienced attacker rounding the hapless opposition goalkeeper to fire home a crucial goal.
The Rams will know they can’t overspend like they have done in the past if they do move up from League One back to the second tier, with this notable dud burning a hole in Derby’s pocket during a turbulent period in the club’s recent history.
Ikechi Anya’s time at Derby
Under previous chairman Mel Morris, it’s fair to say Derby weren’t known for being a frugal side when it came to transfer activity through the door.
The summer transfer window before the 2016/17 season got underway saw the Rams splash the cash significantly, forking out an excessive £8m fee to win Matej Vydra’s services alongside spending a further £4m on his ex-Watford comrade Ikechi Anya.
Derby fans must have been excited by the prospect of seeing Anya don a Derby strip after initially signing, having notched up eight goals and 24 assists for the Hornets as a versatile presence before moving on.
The move would end up going down as a major flop, however, with the now-retired former Scotland international making just 38 appearances for the Rams over four seasons before then calling time on his playing days in 2020.
Derby were bled dry by their 5 foot 6 dud even more when you look at this extortionate wage, with his salary at the time being 3.5 times more than what homegrown Rams product Louie Sibley is earning today under Paul Warne.
Ikechi Anya’s wage at Derby
Anya would end up costing his side a staggering £5.8m in wage costs in total according to Capology, heaps of money lost on a player who would only ever score once for the Rams.
With the Scotsman pocketing £28k-per-week during his debut season in Derbyshire – which would be his wage throughout his wretched Rams spell minus a slight pay increase during the 2019/20 season – Anya would be the club’s third-highest earner that same campaign, only pipped to the top by an ageing Darren Bent and the aforementioned Vydra.
| Derby top earners – 2016/17 Season | |
|---|---|
| 1. Darren Bent | £30k per week |
| 2. Matej Vydra | £30k per week |
| 3. Ikechi Anya | £28k per week |
| 4. David Nugent | £25k per week |
| 5. Alex Pearce | £25k per week |
| Sourced by Capology | |
When looking at the highest earners in Warne’s camp now, the difference is staggering with Conor Hourihane at the top with £12k-per-week which wouldn’t even make a dent in this top five.
Sibley earns a meagre £8k-per-week in contrast to Anya’s pay packet currently, despite being the driving force for Mendez-Laing’s breakaway strike versus Cambridge going in by bursting forward unchallenged to then play the ex-Cardiff City man into space.
On seven goals and five assists in all competitions this season, Sibley will be clamouring for a pay increase if Derby are playing Championship football next campaign.
There won’t be crazy increases for the sake of it though, as Warne’s men aim to traverse the step-up a level steadily after nearly going bust last time they were in the second tier.
GET MORE NEWS HERE
Leave a Reply