Martyn Waghorn

Derby County added versatile striker Martyn Waghorn to their ranks for the 2023/24 season in early August 2023.

Waghorn enjoyed a three-year spell with Derby between 2018 and 2021 and had been training with Head Coach Paul Warne’s squad as a free agent after leaving Championship side Coventry City in the summer prior to sealing his return to the Rams.

He has penned a one-year deal which will run for the 2023/24 campaign to provide another attacking option for Warne to call upon.

Waghorn’s time with Derby saw him score 30 times in 123 appearances and one of his standout moments in a black and white shirt saw him bag a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Rotherham United in March 2019.

Waghorn, a former England Under-21 international, graduated from the Sunderland Academy and went on to feature eight times for the Black Cats at senior level and also gain further EFL experience out on loan with Charlton Athletic and Leicester City in the Championship.

He joined the Foxes on a permanent deal in 2010 and notched 20 goals in 103 League appearances at the King Power Stadium, with loan stints at Hull City, Millwall and Wigan Athletic taking place in between before he sealed a permanent switch to the latter.

Waghorn moved to Ipswich Town in the summer of 2017 after enjoying an exceptional two years with Glasgow giants Rangers. The forward scored 44 goals in 78 games in all competitions at Ibrox between 2015 and 2017 and was a Scottish Championship and Scottish Challenge Cup winner in his first season north of the border.

He notched 16 goals in all competitions and also racked up a further 11 assists over the course of the 2017/18 campaign for Ipswich and that prompted Derby, then managed by Frank Lampard, to bring him to Pride Park Stadium.

After three seasons with the Rams, Waghorn opted to move across the Midlands to join Championship side Coventry City in the summer of 2021. He found opportunities and an extended run in the side limited with the Sky Blues, recording two goals in 42 appearances, and spent the second half of the 2022/23 season on loan at Huddersfield Town in the second tier as Neil Warnock guided them to safety.