£1.25m Derby County deal brought plenty of hype but ended in a terminated contract | OneFootball

The winger joined the Rams in January 2016, but he struggled to make an impact at Pride Park.

The 2015/16 season had started excellently for Derby County, and after the disappointing ending to the previous campaign, they showed no signs of any hangover from it.

Paul Clement had taken on the vacant managerial role at Pride Park in the summer, and he had made vast changes to the playing squad, bringing in the likes of Bradley Johnson, Jacob Butterfield and Scott Carson to help build a team capable of competing at the top of the Championship once again.

His plans had worked at the start of the season, and they ended 2015 in the top two. The January transfer window offered the Rams the chance to build on what had been an excellent first half of the campaign, and Abdoul Camara was brought in to help guide the club to promotion to the Premier League.

However, despite the £1.25m fee that was reportedly paid for the winger by Derby, he struggled to adapt to life in England, and the buzz surrounding him quickly began to fizzle out.

Camara found the step-up to the Championship hard

Camara had scored eight goals in 44 league appearances for French side Angers SCO before joining the Rams, and this led to a decent level of hype and expectation that he was going to prove to be an excellent find by Clement and his scouts.

A pacey and skillful winger, he was exactly what Derby needed to keep up with their rivals, but it soon became apparent that the then 25-year-old could not quite provide everything that he had promised.

He made just four Championship appearances in the 2015/16 season, and struggled with his fitness after first joining the club. He made his way onto the bench four more times before his teammates secured their place in the play-offs, with the former Guinea international coming off the bench in the second leg against Hull City for a short cameo as his team lost 3-2 on aggregate.

Darren Wassall had taken over the reins following Clement's sacking in February 2016, seeing the campaign out on an interim basis, and Camara had not given his new boss a true indication of his talents.

Camara's second season was just as poor

Many were hoping that with a full pre-season, the winger was going to be able to show off his full talents fully for the first time in the black-and-white of Derby, but injury struck once again.

After recovering from a muscle issue, he returned under the guidance of Nigel Pearson against Preston North End, but after just three matches, he was out of the matchday squad with another problem.

Steve McClaren had become the Rams' new manager by the time Camara was back in action in December 2016, and he claimed his first and only Championship assist against QPR on his return.

He started to become more of a regular, and even started three times as the Rams neared the play-off positions after a difficult start with Pearson at the helm.

The East Midlands side were also progressing in the FA Cup, and it was in this competition where Camara scored what proved to be his only goal for Derby. His team held Leicester City to a 2-2 draw at Pride Park in the fourth round of the competition, and the game went to a replay at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes took the lead just after half-time, and they looked to be heading through to the next stage before Camara struck a deflected free kick into the back of the net, handing his side a lifeline. The Rams were beaten in extra-time, but it was a moment that the 26-year-old could have kicked on from.

Nevertheless, injuries persisted, and he featured just once in Derby's last 10 games as they finished outside the play-offs. Gary Rowett was named the club's manager in March 2017 following the sacking of McClaren, and it proved to be the beginning of the end for Camara.

His contract was terminated by mutual consent ahead of the 2017/18 campaign, and a move that had promised so much failed to get off the ground and proved to be a waste of £1.25m.