Derby County join Leeds, Huddersfield and Sunderland in race for ex-Nottingham Forest star

Ateef Konate will soon become a free agent and has decided to leave Forest to seek first team football

Derby County have joined Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Sunderland in the race for attacking midfielder Ateef Konate.

Promising left winger/attacking midfielder gained League One experience with Oxford last term, not the French born talent of Malian descent will likely do the same as he aims to make progress away from Nottingham Forest.

placeholder image — Promising left winger/attacking midfielder gained League One experience with Oxford last term, not the French born talent of Malian descent will likely do the same as he aims to make progress away from Nottingham Forest.

According to Africafoot, the 23 year-old has been released by Forest as he wants to play first team football, so a step down to the Championship could be likely.

The Frenchman didn’t make any Premier League appearances last season, but has had some success in the U21s side and on loan at Oxford United in the 2022/23 season.

Konate can play either on the wing, in attacking midfield or as a striker making him the perfect depth piece for Paul Warne who likes to move his attackers around.

With a older squad age too, the 23 year-old would help inject some youth into the Rams team, something that Warne has spoken about being keen on this summer.

Konate has also attracted European interest with Belgian club KVC Westerlo and Dutch side Vitesse keen on him.

Being a player in such hot demand, the final decision on where to land will lie with Konate and may be based on where he has the best opportunity to develop into a star.

Pride Park would be a good destination for the Frenchman as he would likely get a good amount of game time going by Derby’s current squad situation, especially compared to the talented squads of Leeds United and Sunderland.

It seems that it won’t take long for the attacker to pen a new deal wherever that may be.