Sam Szmodics Rejoins Derby County on Loan with Obligation to Buy
Sam Szmodics is back at Derby County – and this time, it’s serious.
The forward has rejoined the Rams from Ipswich Town on a season-long loan, but the deal comes with an obligation to buy at the end of the 2026-27 campaign. The trigger is appearance-based, with the fee understood to be around £2.7m, a sizeable commitment for a club still pushing to re-establish itself among the Championship’s heavyweights.
A reunion built on goals
Szmodics knows Pride Park. He featured 13 times for Derby last season, scoring three goals as John Eustace’s side fell just four points short of the play-off places. Those numbers were modest, but the connection was obvious – between player and coach, and between player and club.
The real story, though, lies in what he has already produced for Eustace.
Under the same manager at Blackburn Rovers in 2023-24, Szmodics lit up the Championship. He finished as the division’s leading scorer with 27 goals, a ruthless, relentless presence in and around the box. That surge of form didn’t just keep Blackburn relevant; it transformed Szmodics’ career.
Ipswich Town were convinced enough to spend £9m on him in the summer of 2024 as they prepared for their first Premier League campaign in more than 20 years. It looked like a fairytale rise: from second-tier sharpshooter to top-flight signing, carrying the weight of a club’s hopes on his shoulders.
A tough Premier League chapter
The Premier League, though, rarely follows a script.
Szmodics managed four top-flight goals as Ipswich’s return to the big stage lasted only a season. Relegation hit hard. The momentum he had built at Blackburn stalled in a side battling for survival every week.
Back in the EFL, the revival many expected at Portman Road never truly materialised. Szmodics scored just once in 18 appearances for Ipswich last season before Derby moved to bring him in on loan. At Pride Park, the old spark began to flicker again.
His impact in those few months was enough for him to make up his mind.
“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,” he told the club website. “Hopefully, we will go one step further than we did last year and get promoted to the Premier League.”
That is the crux of this move. Derby are not just adding depth. They are betting on a proven Championship finisher, one who has already thrived in this league under this manager.
Derby’s intent, Ipswich’s reset
For Derby, an obligation to buy at around £2.7m signals intent. This is a club planning beyond a single promotion push, shaping a front line that can grow with them if they finally break through the play-off ceiling.
For Ipswich, it marks the end of an expensive chapter. A £9m outlay followed by relegation, a lean return in front of goal, and now a structured exit. The numbers tell their own story, even if the player’s talent has never been in doubt.
The pressure now shifts to performance. If Szmodics stays fit, plays regularly and finds rhythm, that obligation will almost certainly kick in. Derby will then own a forward who has already shown he can dominate this level.
Thompson set for new chapter
There is movement in the other direction too.
Midfielder Liam Thompson is on the verge of leaving Derby for Mansfield Town. The 24-year-old, who first broke into the Rams’ first team in 2021 after six years in the academy, has one year left on his current deal and looks set to seek a fresh start in League Two.
His departure would quietly close a long youth-to-senior journey at Pride Park, even as the club reshapes its squad around more experienced Championship operators.
Derby have made their play. They have brought back a forward who knows the league, knows the manager and knows the expectations.
Now comes the only part that really counts: can Sam Szmodics turn a smart-looking deal into the goals that finally drag Derby County back to where they believe they belong?
