Paul Warne opens up on Derby County transfer and won't 'shut door' on move
Paul Warne says he will not shut the door on replacing Sonny Bradley after explaining the circumstances of the Derby County defender's exit.
Bradley this week joined Wycombe Wanderers on a loan deal until the end of the season when the centre-back is likely to become a free agent when his deal at Pride Park expires. He was immediately thrust into action just 24 hours after the deal was signed as he featured in a 1-0 defeat against Huddersfield on Tuesday.
Derby head coach Warne said he had spoken to Bradley more than two months ago about his future after having struggled to dislodge Curtis Nelson, Eiran Cashin, and Nat Phillips. But Warne wished the defender well and, at the same time, said he would only consider a replacement if it made Derby stronger.
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"Potentially I think we might have enough without him," he said. "Once Cash is back, once Ryan Nyambe is back, I could put Craig Forsyth in there if I have to.
"I won't shut a door on anything if a really good suitable replacement comes available. What I want to say is Sonny goes with our best wishes. He was a brilliant pro here. He trained at an unbelievable level. We had a conversation about 10 weeks ago when if he wasn't getting any game time, he needed to move on for his career because he couldn't sit and watch the whole season being fit.
"I understood that. We both stuck to our word and his attitude was spot on. I said we'd reconsider it in January. He wanted to go for another promotion and a few teams who wanted him.
"He's gone with our blessing and hopefully he can get another promotion under his belt. I don't think replacing Sonny is as important as strengthening the front of the line. But as I have said on numerous occasions, anything we can strengthen we will try to do."
