Derby County boss John Eustace is undergoing his first transfer window in charge of the club and is close to making his first signing in the form of Charlotte FC forward Patrick Agyemang.
Talks for a deal for the 24-year-old American are taking place, with the Championship side hoping to make a statement of intent ahead of the upcoming season.
The striker made his international debut earlier this year and is now close to moving to England, as reported by journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Rams set to bring in MLS star
Derby finished 19th in the Championship last season, one point clear of the relegation zone, after Eustace’s arrival in February following the sacking of Paul Warne.
The former Blackburn Rovers head coach won six and drew three of the final 14 games of the season to secure the club’s safety and has now turned his attention to making improvements to his squad.
The reported deal for Agyemang would see the 6ft 4in striker given his first taste of English football and would be an impressive signing for the Rams, with the striker having scored five goals in just nine games for the United States national team since his debut in January.
He has scored 22 goals in 77 games for Charlotte FC since being selected in the 2023 SuperDraft, with 17 of them coming in Major League Soccer (MLS), whilst playing alongside former Premier League men Wilfried Zaha, Ashley Westwood and Tim Ream, as well as former Derby full-back Nathan Byrne.
He scored on his international debut against Venezuela in a 3-1 victory and has so far scored twice in the ongoing CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the USA set to face Costa Rica in the quarter-finals on June 29.
He is currently worth roughly £3.4 million, according to Transfermarkt, so a deal for him could be quite costly for the Rams but it would be a sign of their intent to finish in the top half of the table in the 2025/26 season.
What type of player is he?
Agyemang is a young, physical striker who would be well-suited to the English game and the Championship.
So far in the 2025 MLS season, he has scored six goals in 16 games for Charlotte, who are ninth in the Eastern Conference, equalling 0.44 goals per 90 minutes. He also has a shots on target ratio of 47.1% and a goals-per-shot rate of 15%, according to FBref.
In comparison, Jerry Yates, Derby’s top scorer last season, scored 10 goals in 42 appearances, equating to 0.24 goals per 90 minutes. His shots-on-target ratio was 40.4% and he had a goals per shot rate of 16%.
Therefore, Agyemang would appear to be quite a significant improvement to the Rams’ current crop of attacking options with his domestic and international pedigree.
He would also be a very promising talent to develop and sell on in the future to a top-division side for a hefty fee, which would help to further improve the squad and continue pushing up the table.
Compared to other forwards, he performs excellently in carrying the ball and taking on opponents, with 2.15 progressive carries and 1.2 successful take-ons per 90, thus ranking him in the 90th percentile or higher when compared against other strikers in the Championship and other leagues outside the big five in Europe.
What would Derby’s attacking depth look like?
If Agyemang does end up moving to the East Midlands, he would join a group of four forwards in the shape of Lars-Jorgen Salvesen, Kayden Jackson, Corey Blackett-Taylor and Dajaune Brown.
Salvesen only joined in January and scored one goal in eight games, while the latter three scored a combined five goals in 73 league appearances last season.
Brown is likely to be sent out on loan to a League Two side after impressing at Gateshead in the 2023/24 campaign, scoring six goals in 18 games in the National League, but the others are likely to remain at Pride Park.
They have also reportedly agreed on a fee for Luton Town’s Carlton Morris, following the Hatters’ relegation to League One, so a potential partnership between him and Agyemang would be an exciting prospect for Derby fans to look forward to and one that would promise a wealth of goalscoring experience.