Pre-season The Derby squad reported back for pre-season training on 1 July, with uncertainty remaining over the future over
Frank Lampard, who was excused from attending training to undergo talks with
Chelsea about their vacant managerial position. With speculation over Lampard's future,
Phillip Cocu was installed as favourite to replace Lampard, with former Ram
Darren Moore,
Lincoln City's
Darren Cowley, Derby Academy boss
Darren Wassall,
Chris Hughton and
Wycombe Wanderers manager
Gareth Ainsworth also rumoured. Lampard was officially appointed as Chelsea's head coach on 4 July, after just one year at Derby and Phillip Cocu was confirmed as his replacement the next day, becoming the first foreign manager in the club's 136-year history. Following Cocu's arrival, and with the new season just a month away, Derby were given promotion odds of 11/2, putting them as ninth-favourite. Pre-season preparations began with a 10-day training camp at the
IMG Academy in
Bradenton, Florida. A 2–0 victory over local
USL League Two side
Sarasota Metropolis was followed by a match with fellow
EFL Championship side
Bristol City, which was abandoned at half-time due to extreme weather conditions, with the Rams trailing 1–0. The match was rearranged for the following day and played over two, 30-minute halves, with the Derby winning 2–0. Derby returned to England to round off their pre-season preparations with a 5–2 victory at
Burton Albion in the
Bass Vase, and 1–0 defeats to
Segunda División side
Girona and
Scottish Premiership side
Glasgow Rangers. Following their failure to gain promotion the previous campaign, Derby set about reshaping the squad with three first team players, former club-record signing
Bradley Johnson,
Nick Blackman and
Jacob Butterfield, leaving the club to join
Blackburn Rovers,
Maccabi Tel Aviv. and
Luton Town respectively. Three players joined the club,
Everton midfielder
Kieran Dowell and
Brighton & Hove Albion defender
Matthew Clarke on season-long loans, with the sole permanent signing being
Arsenal's
Krystian Bielik for a potential club-record fee.
August Derby started the season with a 2–1 victory away to recently relegated
Huddersfield Town, with the result itself coming against a backdrop of rumours that
Manchester United and
England all-time leading scorer
Wayne Rooney was on his way to the club on a player-coach deal. The deal was confirmed the following day, with Rooney signing a deal which would see him join the club following the end of the
MLS season on a £100k-a-week deal, which would be partly subsidised by club-sponsor
32Red. The end of the
transfer window on 8 August saw Derby sign Huddersfield Town goalkeeper
Ben Hamer and Bristol City's
Jamie Paterson on loan, with Scott Carson leaving on loan for
Manchester City. ==Friendlies==