Sporting director rules Championship club out of Derby County transfer race

The Rams have been credited with an interest in the 30-year-old following his release from Ipswich Town.

Within days of the forward ending his five year stay with the Tractor Boys, the Rams were linked as they look to bolster their attacking options following the departure of several key loan players and the injury to Patrick Agyemang.

Chaplin himself spent last season on loan, at Portsmouth, the club with whom he came through the youth set-up to make his breakthrough into senior football.

However, he managed just two Championship goals last term as Pompey struggled at the wrong end of the table and it seems he won’t be returning to Fratton Park for a third spell.

Portsmouth Sporting Director Richard Hughes confirmed as much: “At this point I would probably say no,” he told BBC Solent.

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“We're really grateful for Conor's impact around the group last year. I think Conor would probably be the first one to say it probably wasn't the return he hoped for, but what he was was an unbelievable character around the building and he was a leader, which I think speaks testament to Conor as a person and as a natural leader.

“To come in as a loan player and show that level of commitment to a group in terms of how he developed it, how he worked with the younger players, how he trained consistently every day, and how he sort of engaged with everything that we ask of players in this football club is testament to him.

“But it's not something that we pursued at the minute and not something we're really actively looking to bring in. But I think anyone that spoke to anyone who's affiliated with this football club would tell you what an unbelievable person and character Conor is.

“We've also sought his feedback on what he saw, what he thought and how we can get better as a group as well.”

Chaplin is said to have caught Derby’s eye, and former Rams coach Kevin Phillips thinks he would be a good signing, saying: "These types of players don't come up very often. He might be just one of those players that comes in and give you a season where he's on fire and helps you challenge for the playoffs, if not promotion.

"These are the types of players when you're a manager and scouting, you look around the league thinking ‘Right, who's being released from a club that's got promoted to the Premier League, who's been on loan. Can we go and nick him?’

“And he certainly fits the bill for that. So I think Derby, if they were to sniff around, I think that could be a good signing for sure. Not just Derby, but quite a few other clubs in that league."

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