Sam Szmodics Returns to Derby County with Commitment to Buy

Derby County have brought Sam Szmodics back to Pride Park – this time with a far bigger commitment attached.

The 30-year-old forward has rejoined the Rams on a season-long loan from Ipswich Town, but the deal carries an obligation to buy at the end of the 2026-27 campaign. The clause is understood to be based on appearances, with the eventual fee expected to land around £2.7m.

It is a calculated gamble on a player who has already shown Derby exactly what he can offer.

Szmodics spent the second half of last season with the club, making 13 appearances and scoring three times as John Eustace’s side fell four points short of the Championship play-offs. The goals were useful; the chemistry with his manager was the real hook.

Under Eustace at Blackburn Rovers in 2023-24, Szmodics caught fire. He finished as the Championship’s leading scorer with 27 goals, a ruthless, relentless presence who drove Rovers’ attack and, in the process, drove his own value through the roof. Ipswich Town, preparing for their first Premier League season in more than 20 years, paid £9m to take him to Portman Road in the summer of 2024.

That move never truly ignited. Szmodics scored four Premier League goals as Ipswich went straight back down after one season. The hangover lingered. Last term he struck just once in 18 appearances for the Tractor Boys before Derby moved to bring him in on loan.

A few months in Derbyshire were enough to leave their mark.

“After being here for a couple of months, I knew what the squad and the club were all about - if I had anywhere to come back to, it was always going to be here,” Szmodics told the club website. His aim this time is clear: “Hopefully, we will go one step further than we did last year and get promoted to the Premier League.”

For Derby, the deal speaks of trust – in Eustace’s judgement, in Szmodics’ scoring pedigree, and in the belief that last season’s misfires at Ipswich were a blip, not a trend. For Szmodics, it offers something just as valuable: a manager who knows how to use him and a club that has already felt like home.

While one familiar face returns, another is preparing to walk away.

Midfielder Liam Thompson is on the verge of leaving Derby for Mansfield Town. The 24-year-old, who has a year left on his current deal, first broke into the Rams’ senior side in 2021 after a six-year journey through the academy.

One attacking fulcrum tied to the club’s future, one homegrown product set to move on. Derby’s squad is shifting shape again. The question now is whether Szmodics can rediscover his Blackburn touch and turn that reshaping into a promotion charge.