Derby County centre-back Eiran Cashin has offered some insight into his failed transfer to Brighton and Hove Albion last September amid the club’s push for promotion back to the Championship.
The Rams find themselves locked in an intense battle for the top two places in League One and currently sit in third, one point behind Bolton Wanderers in second and seven off league-leaders Portsmouth. Furthermore, Paul Warne’s side have one of the most difficult run-ins compared to the rest of the sides in the title race and still have to face Bolton and Pompey.
Derby have been stumbling in recent weeks, winning just one of their three previous league outings, losing the remaining two against Barnsley away from home and Charlton Athletic at Pride Park, having taken the lead in both matches.
Cashin bagged the opening goal last week when the Addicks came to town with a header five minutes before the half-time whistle. This was the Irish central defender’s third goal of the campaign under Warne.
The 22-year-old has been an integral cog in the Derby County wheel this season, helping the side to boast the third-best defensive record in League One, having conceded merely 33 goals in 36 matches. Cashin has played in 34 of these games, recording just shy of 3,000 minutes in England’s third tier.
Eiran Cashin's first professional goal for Derby County 🇮🇪⚽️🔥
Jason Knight (21), Louie Watson (20) and Festy Ebosele (19) also started in the Rams' 2-0 win over Blackpool 💪#COYBIG pic.twitter.com/zrIhQEHQO2
— Ireland Radar (@IrelandRadar) May 2, 2022
But Cashin was very nearly not part of Warne’s squad after it seemed as though a transfer to Premier League outfit Brighton was coming to fruition on the deadline day of the summer transfer window. The move didn’t come off in the end and speaking to Derbyshire Live, the centre-back explained why.
“It was such a stressful day. They were trying to sort the fee so I finished training and the gaffer [Warne] said just do what you need to do.
“I must have spent about six hours at that Starbucks, probably even longer thinking about it. It’s fair to say that I got through a few hot chocolates and a lot of calls. But the move was on, then it was off. In the end, the fee got sorted but it was just too late to organise a medical,” he continued.
“The next day, the gaffer pulled me before the Bolton game and he was gutted because it was a life-changing opportunity. But he just said now that it was done I just had to get my head down. I couldn’t have agreed more.”
Writer’s View
Respectfully, Cashin seems almost too good for League One which is why he is certainly in with a shout of earning a place in the division’s Team of the Season by the end of the campaign. It’s also the reason why interest from the top-flight is not so surprising.
It seems unlikely that Derby County will keep hold of him next season, particularly with Brighton still sniffing around, but his impressive form for his club has earned him a market value of £1.5 million, as per Transfermarkt, increasing the fee that the Rams will get for him.
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