Derby County responds as Hull City submits bid for 22-year-old

Max Bird has just one year left on his contract at Pride Park and Liam Rosenior is keen to re-unite with the 22-year-old

Hull City has had a steady summer transfer window so far, with no real significant fees spent to strengthen Liam Rosenior’s squad thus far.

That could be about to change though as the Tigers head coach plots a raid on his former club Derby County.

Loan deals have been sealed for Man City striker Liam Delap and Sporting CP left-back Ruben Vinagre, with the option to make the latter move a permanent one next summer.

Xavier Simons meanwhile has become a full-time City player following his loan last season from Chelsea, and winger Jason Lokilo has returned to England from Sparta Rotterdam for an undisclosed fee having come through the ranks at Crystal Palace as a youngster.

Nothing significant has been spent on Rosenior’s squad but he could now be about to land a player he knows very well in the form of Max Bird.

According to the Hull Daily Mail, the Tigers are in talks to sign the 22-year-old midfielder from the Rams and have submitted an official transfer offer for the County academy graduate.

However, in an update from the Derby Telegraph, Hull’s first bid for Bird has been knocked back, with the report stating that County considers the offer on the table as a ‘derisory’ one and there would have to be a significant increase if a deal was to be struck.

It is believed that Bird would like to move to happen and it would mean reuniting with Rosenior, who spent time not only as a first-team coach at Pride Park but also as interim manager before Paul Warne was appointed as permanent head coach back in September.

Who is Max Bird?

Bird joined Derby as a child and progressed through their academy, eventually making his senior debut in 2017 in an EFL Cup match at the age of just 16 – becoming the County’s eighth-youngest player of all time in the process.

He returned to playing youth-level football for most of the next two years, but in the 2018-19 season, he appeared four times in the Championship before getting his big breakthrough in the 2019-20 campaign.

The bird was a regular starter in the second half of that season under Phillip Cocu at the age of 19, and he also went on to be used with regularity by the Dutchman’s successor in the dugout in the form of Wayne Rooney.

Prior to the 2022-23 season, Rosenior handed Bird the vice-captain role and was the skipper on the pitch for half the season when experienced center-back Curtis Davies was not playing – he ended the year with 43 appearances in all competitions and two goals.

With less than 12 months remaining on his contract though, Bird could be cashed in on by Derby despite being a key player at the club.

Where would Max Bird fit in at Hull City?

It is likely that Rosenior will be lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation or a 4-4-2 this year, so Bird would slot in as one of the holding midfielders – perhaps alongside Jean Michael Seri.

Regan Slater has been playing in a deeper role during pre-season but Bird’s potential arrival could free him up to move further up the pitch, which would be useful for a player with nine Championship goal contributions last season.

First, though, Hull needs to agree on a fee for Bird’s services with it likely taking seven figures to prize him away from Pride Park.