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Derby County have had their transfer embargo lifted by the English Football League after two years under it.

Derby last paid a transfer fee in September 2020 and have been affected by embargoes since the summer of 2021.

Financial issues - which led to administration - saw the embargo first applied, with Derby's transfer dealings then restricted by the EFL after David Clowes took ownership in July 2022.

They have now been removed from he EFL's embargo reporting service.

It was reported by BBC Radio Derby that the League One club will be able to operate without restrictions when the transfer window opens in the summer, and that they will instead be monitored by the EFL against their own budget and business plan.

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While Derby have not been able to pay transfer fees over the past two seasons, they have been allowed to recruit free agents and loan players.

Limits have been applied to the size of their squad and wages on offer at Pride Park.

Paul Warne will be the first Rams boss since Phillip Cocu, who was sacked in November 2020, to have a transfer budget to spend.

Warne has previously said "surgery's needed" on his Derby squad before next season, which will be spent in League One after they fell short of the play-offs on the final day of the season.

Wayne Rooney did not spend any money on transfers during his time at the helm, which ended with relegation from the Championship in 2021-22.

Liam Rosenior then rebuilt the side for their League One campaign by recruiting an almost entirely new squad in the space of a month after Clowes took Derby out of administration.

Before the takeover, the Rams had only five first-team players to call on for the start of pre-season when Rosenior took interim charge of the Rams last summer.

Neither Derby nor the EFL have commented on the embargo being lifted, but at a Derby County Supporters' charter group meeting in April the club said their business plan "would be division specific" and that they would "build in a progressive and sensible manner".

'Warne has chance to mould own side'
Analysis - BBC Radio Derby's Dominic Dietrich

This is a big step in the right direction for the football club.

Whilst it finally gives them an opportunity to step away from their financial restraints, this isn't a return to the old Derby County of spending big fees and gambling on promotion.

The approach the club are now going to adopt will be sustainable but competitive in League One, but it gives Paul Warne a much better opportunity to mould his own side with the assistance of their new head of recruitment Mark Thomas after declaring it needs surgery this summer.

Ten months into David Clowes' ownership we're told relations with the EFL have improved greatly and it's time to look ahead to a better future at Pride Park.

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ormer Derby County captain Curtis Davies is to leave the League One club when his contract expires next month.

The 38-year-old is being released along with fellow defender Richard Stearman and James Chester.

Full-back Craig Forsyth, the club's longest-serving player, has signed a new one-year contract.

Striker David McGoldrick has been offered a new deal after scoring 25 goals in 45 appearances in 2022-23, along with goalkeeper Scott Loach.

The club has also taken up an option for a further 12 months in the contract of midfielder Jason Knight.

Davies made 175 appearances in six years with the Rams, 24 of them this season, and led the side throughout the period of administration which saw them relegated from the Championship and preceded the takeover by David Clowes last summer.

But his final appearance ended with a red card for fouling Marvin Johnson as they lost to Sheffield Wednesday, allowing Peterborough to pip them to the final League One play-off spot.

In a post on Twitter, Davies said: "Whilst it was far from the fairytale ending that we all wanted, I will always look back at the six years with great fondness, and as some of the best years of my life.

"Especially the togetherness of the 2021-22 season where we were on our knees and never gave up despite all the adversity. That sums up for me the fabric of you fans. the community and this club."

A Derby statement said Davies had "displayed his undoubted leadership and commitment to the cause" when the club was in administration and added: "For that, his contribution will always be remembered and appreciated."

Stearman, 35, played 31 games for the club after arriving as a free agent but Wales international Chester, 34, was restricted to just seven this season because of injury.

Forsyth has played 308 matches since joining Derby from Watford and is only the second since in the 1990s to pass that milestone.

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Derby County have signed versatile winger Joe Ward from Peterborough and goalkeeper Josh Vickers from Rotherham on three-year deals.

Ward, 27, becomes the Rams' first signing of the summer and joins as a free agent after he turned down a new contact with Posh.

Likewise, 27-year-old Vickers moves to Pride Park after opting not to extend his stay with the Millers.

He will be reunited with former Rotherham boss Paul Warne at Derby.

It is the second time Warne has signed Vickers, with the goalkeeper going on to help the Millers earn promotion from League One in 2022.

He made a total of 30 appearance for Rotherham, while Ward leaves Peterborough as the club's longest-serving player.

The former Brighton player scored 23 goals in more than 230 appearances during his five-and-a-half years with the club.

He joins a Derby side that Peterborough edged out for a League One play-off spot on the final day last season.

Ward, who can play as a right-sided wing-back, winger or full-back, went on to score for Peterborough in their 4-0 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday in the first leg of their semi-final.

He also started in the return leg in which the Owls produced one of the greatest comebacks in English Football League history to progress to the final at Wembley, where they eventually secured promotion.

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Derby County have signed Australia left-back Callum Elder on a three-year deal following his Hull City departure.

The 28-year-old, who played more than 130 games for the Tigers in four years, will move to Pride Park when his Hull contract expires at the end of June.

Once-capped Socceroo Elder, who came through Leicester's youth ranks, helped Hull to promotion as champions when he last featured in League One in 2021.

"It's an easy sell to play for a club the size of Derby," Elder said.

"When a club of the magnitude of Derby shows an interest in you, it immediately turns your head."

Elder, who also previously won the third division title with Wigan Athletic while on loan in 2018, said he is "proud" of his promotion record in the division.

"The manager has a real strong record himself, so I know he will be looking to add more silverware this season," Elder said of working with three-time League One promotion-winning boss Paul Warne.

Elder is the third player Derby have signed in two days, following the addition of versatile winger Joe Ward and goalkeeper Josh Vickers.

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Derby County have signed central defender Curtis Nelson on a two-year deal following his departure from Blackpool this summer.

The former Plymouth and Oxford player, 30, made 18 appearances in four months with the Seasiders last season.

Nelson moved to Bloomfield Road after leaving their then Championship rivals Cardiff City, where he made 127 appearances in three-and-a-half years.

"I've got another challenge now, I feel fit and ready to go," Nelson said.

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The defender is the fourth summer signing announced by Derby in the past four days, following the arrivals of versatile winger Joe Ward, goalkeeper Josh Vickers and left-back Callum Elder.

He comes in as Rams boss Paul Warne reshapes his side in an attempt to get the club back to the Championship.

They failed in their bid for promotion last season, missing out on a play-off spot on the final day of the regular season.

"I think it's a massive opportunity for the club to get back to where it once was," Nelson told the club website.

"He [Warne] wants me to come in and help the club get promoted, that's the number one aim.

"I know every single team in the league will want that but more so for Derby - we want to go up this year."

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League One Derby County have signed Rotherham striker Conor Washington and former Luton Town skipper Sonny Bradley on two-year contracts.

Northern Ireland international Washington, who scored six goals in 39 appearances last season, has made an "undisclosed agreement" with the Rams.

Centre-back Bradley, also 31, was a free agent, having been released by the Hatters after 175 games for the club.

Derby have now made six summer signings since finishing seventh last season.

Bradley spent five years at Kenilworth Road and made 19 appearances as Luton won promotion to the Premier League in May.

It was the third promotion of his career, which began with hometown club Hull City and has also included spells at Portsmouth, Crawley and Plymouth.

Washington's previous clubs include QPR, Sheffield United, Hearts and Charlton and he will be reunited at Derby with boss Paul Warne, who signed him for Rotherham four months prior to his own departure for Pride Park.

The Rams will start the new campaign with a home game against Wigan Athletic on 5 August.

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Derby County have signed Bristol City defender Kane Wilson on a two-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old joined the Robins last summer from Forest Green Rovers, where he was named League Two player of the season for 2021-22.

Yet injuries limited him to five league appearances last season, all from the bench, and two EFL Cup starts.

"It's something I've wanted to do for a while so to get it done is brilliant," Wilson said.

Wilson, who plays on the right side at full-back or wing-back, becomes Derby's seventh summer signing as the Rams aim to return to the Championship after a seventh-place finish last season.

He picked up a knock in the final pre-season game last summer and then made four appearances for the Robins, before a further injury required knee surgery in October.

The former West Bromwich Albion academy graduate returned in March, but played just 10 more minutes for City as a substitute.

"It was tough being injured and then not being selected," Wilson added.

"It's the worst thing that any footballer can face, but I've got the bit between my teeth now. I'm ready to go and compete and try to get into this Derby team."

Rooney extends stay at Pride Park
Jake Rooney
Jake Rooney made seven starts in League One for the Rams last season
Meanwhile, Rams defender Jake Rooney has signed a new three-year-deal which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2026.

The 19-year-old, cousin of former Derby manager and England striker Wayne Rooney, joined the Rams from Burnley last season.

Rooney, who can play at right-back and centre-back, has made 18 first-team appearances, including nine in League One.

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Derby County have completed the signing of striker Martyn Waghorn on a one-year deal.

The 33-year-old, who played for the Rams from 2018-2021, was a free agent after leaving Coventry in the summer.

He has been training with the Rams and was at Pride Park on Saturday to watch his new side lose their League One opener against Wigan Athletic.

"I'm a kind of a different player now, a different person," Waghorn told the club website.

"Hopefully I can use all my different experiences to help the team get back to where we want to be."

Waghorn made 13 appearances for the Sky Blues last season before joining Huddersfield Town in January, where he played a further 13 times to help Neil Warnock's side avoid relegation.

"Since the invitation (to train) came around, it's been a no-brainer situation-wise where I was - just running around the park wasn't ideal," he added.

"To just be in and around the place again, the feel and the excitement that's been generated by the manager and what he's doing here is something I really wanted to be a part of."

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Derby County have signed midfielder Tyrese Fornah from Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old has agreed a two-year deal at Pride Park and is the ninth summer signing by the Rams.

Fornah's only starts for Forest came in the Carabao Cup, and he spent last season on loan at Reading, scoring twice in 35 Championship appearances.

Paul Warne's Rams have made a mixed start to the new League One campaign, with two wins and two defeats so far.

They are away to Peterborough United on Saturday.

Fornah began his career in Brighton's youth set-up before joining Forest in 2018.

He has also had loan spells with Plymouth, Shrewsbury and Portuguese club Casa Pia, but the latter was cut short by the Covid pandemic.

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Derby County winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has signed a new deal with the club to run until the summer of 2026.

Mendez-Laing agreed a two-year contract when he joined the Rams in the summer of 2022 following the takeover of the League One club by David Clowes.

He has scored seven goals in 28 appearances so far this season to help them to fourth place in the table.

During his time at Pride Park, Mendez-Laing made his international debut for Guatemala and has won eight caps.

The 31-year-old was a free agent when signed by Derby, having turned down a new contract offered by Sheffield Wednesday.

He had joined the Owls in November 2021 following previous spells with Middlesbrough, Cardiff, Rochdale and Peterborough United.

His new deal follows one recently signed by Ryan Nyambe, which runs until 2025.

Derby play Bradford City in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday evening before returning to league action with a home game against Burton Albion on Saturday.