Knight on Town Radar as Blues End Taylor Pursuit

TWTD understands Derby County midfielder Jason Knight is one of a number of central midfielders on Town’s radar, the Blues having ended their lengthy pursuit of Peterborough United’s Jack Taylor.

Taylor, 24, who had interested Town since last summer, was the subject of several bids during January, the last close to £2 million, and the Blues revisited the situation again at the start of this summer.

However, we understand the club has now ended its interest in the Republic of Ireland call-up and is actively looking at other potential central midfield recruits, including Knight, who was linked by the Daily Mail among other sources overnight.

Knight, 22, joined the Rams’ academy from hometown club Cabinteely in 2017 and progressed into the first team, making his debut at the start of 2019/20. He has now made 136 starts and 30 sub appearances, scoring 14 times.

Capped 20 times by the Republic of Ireland, scoring once, Knight is understood to have been the subject of two offers from Bristol City this summer, the second £1.5 million, and the Robins are believed to be considering another bid. Stoke City have also been linked.

Knight has a year left on his Derby contract, the Rams having taken an option on his deal

I'm an ambitious person' – Ireland's Jason Knight to weigh up future at Derby | Independent.ie

Jason Knight latest: Potential price tag and Derby County’s stance as Bristol City, Ipswich Town and more weigh up moves

Derby County and Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason Knight is a man in demand.

It’s been a chaotic 24 hours or so for Knight. Yesterday it was revealed that Bristol City had tried and failed with two bids to sign the 22-year-old, before fellow Championship sides Ipswich Town and Stoke City were credited with an interest

Knight starred for Derby County in their 2022/23 season, featuring 38 times in League One as the Rams finished just outside the play-off places.

Derby County’s stance

Knight is under contract for another year and so a sale this summer looks like Derby’s best chance to make some money on the player.

Earlier in the summer, Knight’s Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny suggested that Knight was on the verge of leaving, to which Derby County were reportedly surprised.

So it could suggest that, at the time at least, Knight wasn’t close to leaving. But with interest in Knight now widely-reported, it could mean that a move is closer.

Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason Knight linked with move to Burnley - Irish Mirror Online

And yesterday when revealing Bristol City’s bids for the player, John Percy said that the Robins’ £1.5million bid is ‘getting closer’, so it certainly seems like Derby are ready to offload Knight.

Potential price tag

Given Percy’s revelation yesterday, clubs will no doubt have to spend upwards of £1.5million for Knight – though it doesn’t look like they’ll have to spend a lot more than that amount.

Knight’s valuation has no doubt decreased given his contract situation, but with more and more teams showing an interest, Derby could make a final push to drive that price tag up over the £2million mark.

Stoke City have already been reported to have made a bid in the same region for Wolves’ Dion Sanderson, so they look ready to spend this summer, and so too do Ipswich Town who’ve reportedly (via TWTD) bid £3.5million for Everton’s Ellis Simms, making the race for Knight an open one as things stand.