Derby County have this evening made experienced striker Conor Washington their latest signing.
The 31-year-old has joined the Rams from Championship side Rotherham United after an undisclosed agreement was reached by the two clubs.
Washington, who has scored 161 career goals in club football from just under 500 appearances, has agreed a two-year contract which will run until the end of the 2024/25 season.
The hardworking frontman, who has played 37 times at international level for Northern Ireland, will provide another option for Head Coach Paul Warne to call upon in attack.
Washington is the latest new face through the door at Pride Park Stadium this summer, following the recent additions of Joe Ward, Josh Vickers, Callum Elder, Curtis Nelson and Sonny Bradley.
Conor Washington In Profile
Kent-born Washington made his name at St Ives Town in non-league football and his prolific goalscoring exploits saw him step up to the National League in 2012 with Newport County, where he achieved promotion to the EFL via the Play-Offs in 2012/13.
An impressive first half of the 2013/14 season saw Washington net seven times before sealing a move to League One with Peterborough United, and he went on to score on a further five occasions during a campaign that ultimately ended in Play-Off defeat. Tallies of 13 and 15 followed over the next two seasons, including a first-ever career hat-trick during 2015/16, taking the striker to 33 goals in 94 games for the Posh.
His fine form saw him earn a seven-figure switch to Queens Park Rangers of the Championship in January 2016 and Washington scored 14 times in 98 appearances before joining Sheffield United for the 2018/19 campaign. Although not a first-team regular and mainly used off the bench, he played his part in the Blades earning promotion to the Premier League.
2019/20 was spent with Heart of Midlothian in Scotland, where he scored four times in 22 appearances, including a goal against Celtic, before the COVID-19 outbreak ended the campaign prematurely.
Washington returned to England with League One Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2020 and scored 11 times in each of the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons for the Addicks, a total return of 22 goals from 76 appearances. His form earned him a move back to the Championship with Rotherham, then managed by Derby boss Warne, and he found the net six times in 37 outings back in the second tier.
On the international stage, Washington has been a regular in the Northern Ireland squad for many years and qualifies to play for the nation through his grandmother.
His first cap came in March 2016 in a friendly against Wales and he scored his first-ever international goal a few days later in another friendly, this time against Slovenia. Washington represented Northern Ireland at the 2016 UEFA European Championships and appeared in all four of their matches, twice from the start and twice off the bench.
Washington has six goals from 37 appearances for Northern Ireland, with his most recent strike coming against Bulgaria in October 2021. His last cap was against Finland in March of this year.
