Derby County will enter the Championship next season with a number of products from their academy present in and around the first-team, with the Rams youth set-up hailed as being a fertile place for stars to develop, before shining when making the leap up into the senior mix.
Eiran Cashin, unless he is snapped up between now and the opening day, is the most notable face who has managed to make a first-team spot his own since graduating from the Academy structure, whilst the likes of Max Bird and Jason Knight have got bumper moves away from Pride Park after cutting their teeth in Derbyshire.
Yet, even with plenty of examples of Derby's patience paying off with homegrown stars, there are other examples where the Rams have prematurely let a gem go who has then gone on to excel away from the Championship club.
That doesn't mean Derby won't still win in the long-term, however, with a former Academy starlet in Liam Delap having just completed a bumper move, which could see Paul Warne and Co gain some significant money to put towards their second-tier transfer kitty.
Liam Delap's start at Derby
Delap moving onto Ipswich could see Derby win a sweet cash bonus, with the Championship outfit cleverly inserting a sell-on clause when they allowed the 21-year-old to move on in 2019, in case something like this occurred down the line.
Delap spent ten years in and around the youth set-up at the Rams before moving to Manchester City, with the wide-eyed sensation benefitting from his early Pride Park education, which might well have helped him hone in on his vicious goalscoring skills that have been seen playing youth football for City.
The 6 foot 1 forward would go on to only make eight appearances for Derby U18s, scoring just once from those appearances, before being snapped by the reigning Premier League champions.
Warne's side never unfortunately got to witness Delap at his prolific best, therefore, with there being a theoretical world where the highly rated new Ipswich signing would have gone on to make many a senior appearance at Pride Park, instead of walking away from his boyhood club so early into his fledging career.
Instead, he turned into a notoriously ice-cold finisher of chances playing in the Premier League 2 and beyond for Pep Guardiola's titans, which has led him to making such an expensive switch to Suffolk.
How Delap developed at Man City
Man City didn't just take a risky gamble on Delap coming good, however, with the deadly youngster showing off his goalscoring prowess with the England U16s when still on the books at Derby.
The promising attacker would bag six goals from ten games on the International stage in this age bracket, before going on to be capped all the way up to the U21s, with the goals never drying up.
The ridiculous goal above is just one of many sublime strikes Delap has managed to put away playing for City, with a ridiculous 11 strikes and seven assists managed from 18 U18 appearances after he first waved Derby goodbye.
That fast-tracked the 21-year-old up to the U21 fold, where he became even more of a calm finisher under pressure, with a staggering 35 goals from just 36 games, as his former employers watched on in awe of what their youth player was now doing to defences regularly in the Premier League 2 and other competitions.
Premier League 2
32
32
8
U18 Premier League
18
8
6
FA Youth Cup
7
4
1
EFL Trophy
4
3
0
FA Cup
3
0
0
UEFA Youth League
2
0
0
Premier League
2
0
0
EFL Cup
2
1
0
UEFA Champions League
1
0
0
This composure in front of goal even saw Guardiola take notice and label Delap as an "incredible" finisher, with the Spaniard also allowing the 21-year-old to net a senior strike at the Etihad Stadium, by scoring against AFC Bournemouth in the EFL Cup in 2020.
Delap's value in 2024
Loan spells down in the Championship away from the luxuries of the Premier League giants have also seen him sharpen his skills in finding the back of net further, with eight strikes managed last season for Hull City as Ipswich now gain the services of the highly rated centre-forward for a reported fee of £20m.
Derby won't be mega-rich off the back of this development, but gaining a slim fraction of that £20m will still go a long way you imagine, especially when you consider that amount is more than what the entire Derby squad is currently worth, according to Transfermarkt.
Derby's entire squad, as per Transfermarkt's latest valuation, is currently worth around £12.6m, which is some way off Delap.
Ipswich will hope they aren't paying way over the odds for their new 6 foot 1 star, considering Man City managed to win his services from Derby for just £1m back in 2019.
1. Matej Vydra
£10.2m
2. Jeff Hendrick
£9.9m
3. Seth Johnson
£9.6m
4. Will Hughes
£7.6m
5. Tom Ince
£7.6m
Delap would even become Derby's record departure with that £20m price tag now next to his head, when glancing at the table above, with Warne and Co hopeful that some of this cash can go towards boosting and strengthening their squad ahead of their return to the Championship.
The Championship can be an unforgiving division, and with some additions already entering into the building bolstering the ranks, this new added injection of cash could go some way in further adding strength in depth.
It remains to be seen whether or not Delap becomes a success at Ipswich, after being protected by the youth pitches at City for some time.
But, Derby won't really be paying attention to that, as they focus on survival as a minimum this season to come.
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