Derby County will be looking to step up their preparations for the upcoming Championship campaign by delivering a promising performance against Salford City this weekend in their latest pre-season friendly.
The Rams were handed a major boost yesterday by the EFL who granted them permission to sign out-of-contract players this summer.
Whilst Derby will need to be careful that they do not breach a salary cap that has been imposed on them, they are now free to make some much-needed additions to their squad.
Whereas Rooney will be looking to draft in some fresh faces between now and the end of the transfer window, he is also seemingly keen to re-sign a player who possesses a great deal of experience at this level.
According to The Telegraph journalist John Percy, Derby are set to bring Curtis Davies back to the club this summer by offering him fresh terms.
The six-foot two-inch defender's previous contract expired last month and he has since been training with the Rams as he looks to prove his worth to Rooney.
After missing a considerable chunk of the previous campaign due to injury, Davies made his return to action in the dying embers of Derby's clash with Sheffield Wednesday in May.
During this particular cameo, the 36-year-old helped the Rams secure the point that they needed to retain their second-tier status for another year.
Having featured on 268 occasions at this level during his career, Davies knows exactly what it takes to thrive in the Championship and thus could prove to be a valuable member of Rooney's squad.
Considering that Derby are set to kick-off their second-tier campaign in just under three weeks' time, it will be intriguing to see how many players Rooney will be able to sign before his side's clash with Huddersfield Town.
GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...
This could turn out to be a shrewd bit of business by the Rams as they desperately need to bolster their options at centre-back following the departures of Teden Mengi, George Edmundson and Matt Clarke.
Although it is fair to say that Davies is now past his prime, he is still more than capable of delivering the goods in the second-tier when fully fit.
During the 13 league games that he featured in last season, the defender managed to average a WhoScored match rating of 6.89 which was a total that was only bettered by Clarke and Krystian Bielik.
Providing that he is able to avoid injury, Davies could emerge as a key player for a Derby side who will be desperate to push on in the Championship later this year.
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