Derby County have completed the signing of Norwich City striker Cameron Jerome for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.5 million as he signed a one-and-a-half-year deal at Pride Park.
Jerome has become the first player that Gary Rowett has added to his squad in the current transfer window as he looks to add quality to help the Rams’ push for promotion to the Premier League come next May. It would be no surprise to see further additions at Pride Park between now and the end of the window.
One player who will not be joining Derby this transfer window is Birmingham City midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld. The 27-year-old came close to joining the Rams in the summer to reunite with Rowett and was said to be a target again this month but he has penned a new two-year contract at St Andrew’s.
An experienced addition
Jerome’s arrival at Pride Park may come as somewhat of a surprise considering the attacking talent already at Rowett’s disposal. Matej Vydra, Chris Martin, Darren Bent, David Nugent, Sam Winnall and Johnny Russell are all forwards already at the club, so Rowett must believe that Jerome will provide stern competition to those names.
One thing that Jerome does add is experience and the 31-year-old knows what it takes to win promotion to the Premier League, something the Rams have failed to do on numerous occasions. He has featured for Cardiff City, Birmingham City, Stoke City, Crystal Palace and Norwich so far in his career and has always known how to find the back of the net, especially at Championship level.
Jerome has struggled to perform in the top flight during his career, but one thing that cannot be doubted is his impressive goalscoring record in the Championship. He could be an ideal addition to Rowett’s squad ahead of what will be a demanding couple of months for his squad both physically and mentally. His experience could help some of the other players in the squad when the games become highly pressurised towards the end of the season.
He has rarely featured for Norwich this season under the management of Daniel Farke. Some of this is down to the form of Nélson Oliveira, who is also being linked with a move away from Carrow Road and also purely because he did not seem to be fancied by Farke. He made 15 league appearances in total for the Canaries this season, scoring one goal in the process.
Rowett "delighted" to get deal done
Rowett has told the club's official website that he is delighted to secure Jerome's services and believes that he does add something different to the attacking options he already has available at the club. He said: "I'm delighted to welcome Cameron to Derby County."
He added: "We believe that he will fit into our style of play and will add something different to our forward options."
Jerome could make his debut for the Rams on Friday night as they welcome fellow promotion hopefuls Bristol City to Pride Park in a crucial Championship encounter.