3/1 To Win
Duane Holmes admitted that he just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work under Frank Lampard at Derby County after he completed his move to Pride Park Stadium.
The 23-year-old joined on a three-year deal from Scunthorpe United to become the ninth signing of the summer for the Rams.
Speaking to RamsTV for the first time, Holmes explained why he just couldn’t reject the opportunity to link up with Derby.
He said: “As soon as I heard the interest, I got straight on the phone and told the Scunthorpe chairman that I wanted to make this happen.
“He said that he wouldn’t stand in my way, so I’m really happy.
“The size of the club, the direction and the ambition, it just seemed like the perfect fit.
“He told me how hard the training is and how intense the training is, and I’m just looking forward to get started and to work under someone like Frank Lampard is something that you can’t turn down.
“I like to get on the ball and get at people. Hopefully I can get people out of their seat and excite them.”
Transfer Deadline Day turned out to be a tense one for Holmes, and he gave an insight into how the move came about as the clock ticked down.
He said: “I got into Scunthorpe at about 8AM and I heard that a bit had gone in but it had been declined.
“It was up in the air, but the chairman said that he thought it was going to get done so he said that I should get myself down to Derby.
“I did the medical, had to drive somewhere else for the scans but it all got done in the last minutes.”
Born in the state of Georgia in the United States, Holmes had an interesting journey into English football, but when you speak to him, you realise that there is no lingering American accent…
“I was born in America but I moved to England when I was four, so I just have a pure Yorkshire accent now!” Holmes explained.
“It’s where I was born and it’s where my family are from, so I consider myself to be American.”
