Dion Sanderson joined Derby County on a season-long loan deal from fellow Sky Bet Championship rivals Birmingham City in August 2025 - before making the move a permanent one at the end of December 2025.

He had previous experience of playing under Head Coach John Eustace, who recruited the versatile defender for both Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers during his spells in charge of the Blues and Rovers respectively.

Born in the West Midlands, Sanderson’s journey began with Wolverhampton Wanderers when he joined their Academy at the age of eight.

After joining the senior squad for their pre-season tour of Asia ahead of the 2019/20 season, he made his senior debut in the Carabao Cup against Aston Villa in October 2019.

It proved to be Sanderson’s sole appearance for his boyhood club as he embarked on a series of loan spells throughout the remainder of his time at Molineux.

A first spell of senior football came in the Sky Bet Championship with Cardiff City, before he joined Sunderland for their 2020/21 season in League One.

Sanderson made a total of 27 appearances for the Black Cats and his displays saw him named as the club’s Young Player of the Year, following on from his ten outings at Cardiff.

After signing a new four-year deal with Wolves, Sanderson joined Birmingham for the first time in the summer of 2021. He was recalled in January 2022 and loaned to Queens Park Rangers for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign and made 28 appearances across the entire campaign with the two clubs.

Another switch to St Andrew’s followed and he made 34 appearances during his second loan spell for the 2022/23 season, playing 34 times in all competitions, before signing permanently under Eustace at the start of 2023/24, when he was named as captain.

Following Birmingham’s relegation to League One, during which time he played 40 times, he returned to the second tier under Eustace at Blackburn Rovers in January 2025 and his move to Pride Park Stadium means that the pair have now been reunited for a fourth time.