It looks very doubtful that Rory Delap will be a Derby County player much longer. The Republic of Ireland utility man is being lined up for a move to the Riverside Stadium as replacement for Liverpool-bound Christian Ziege.

Delap was linked with a move to Sunderland in a deal which would have seen Nicky Summerbee and £2.5m being splashed out on him, but Rams manager Jim Smith denied that he had any interest in having Summerbee in his squad so the story died.

This story will take a little bit more to kill it because it has been reported that Middlesbrough boss Bryan Robson is set to make a £5m bid. With this amount of money being talked about, the approach, when it happens, will have to be taken very seriously by Derby.

24-year-old Delap has been an instant success at Derby after they snapped him up for a bargain £200,000 from third-division Carlisle.

Rams boss Jim Smith will fight to keep Delap, but would surely be tempted by the chance to make a profit of more than £4million on the Republic of Ireland international.