Derby County transfer news: Philip Cocu outlines his battle plan for the summer window

BY GRAHAM HILL — Phillip Cocu says he will delve into his extensive list of contacts – which includes Pep Guardiola – to strengthen his new Derby County squad.

Cocu, the former Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder, was named as Frank Lampard’s successor when Derby lost their manager to Chelsea.

And he says his first task will be to fill the holes left by the club’s loan players who helped the Rams reach the Championship play-off final at Wembley where they lost to Aston Villa.

PSV formula

Chelsea loanees Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, along with Liverpool and Wales winger Harry Wilson, have now returned to their parent clubs.

And, in the short-term, Cocu plans to bring in loan players ahead of the new season which starts in two weeks.

Long-term, Cocu, 48, wants to repeat the formula he had at PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Dutch title three times.

Under his management, there was a heavy emphasis on youth and the academy system. And he wants to use it at Derby, where owner Mel Morris wants to encourage the club to bring through their own talent.

Silence on Pep

But Cocu, who has signed a four-year deal at Pride Park, refused to say whether he will be chatting to Guardiola, his former Barcelona team-mate – except to say he had not made any contact so far.

“I’m not going to say if I’ve spoken to anyone or not,” he said.

“You always use your contacts in the world of football.

“When I was at PSV and then in Fenerbahce you have contact with coaches. If we feel we need a player for this squad we will try to convince the other party it would be a good step for a loan player to come to our team for his development and to create value for next season.”

Trusting youth

Cocu admitted he wants to give youth a chance, as he did at PSV where Memphis Depay and Gigi Wijnaldum played under him.

“The advantage you have with players from your academy, who are already five, six years at your club, if they come through, they take with them the values of the club,” he added.

“If you take players from different areas, they can add value to the club but they have to adapt to how the club works, how it thinks.

“The young players from the academy, they have it already.

“A lot of things here are similar to PSV, the same goals are trying to be achieved. I believe in this philosophy, I started it at PSV because this was not the culture that was at Ajax, for example.

“We changed some things at PSV, and there is always a step. Here it will be from Under-19 or 23s to make the step.”

Morris says Cocu is a perfect fit for Derby.

“After our interview I said to our Chief Executive, we’re going to struggle with the next set of interviews if he turns us down,” said Morris.