Bobby Clark has returned to England one year on from his £10 million transfer to Salzburg, with the midfielder to ply his trade in the Championship in 2025/26.
Clark’s move to Austria last summer held plenty of promise after he joined ex-Liverpool coach Pepijn Lijnders at Salzburg, but it turned into a tumultuous first year abroad.
The 20-year-old played 25 times last season, but after Thomas Letsch replaced Lijnders, he featured just six times in 19 games before being left out of the Club World Cup squad over the summer.
He was not short of exit strategies, with at least 15 clubs credited with interest, but he has now signed for Derby County, who finished 19th in the Championship last season.
Clark arrives on a season-long loan deal and is available to make his debut in Derby’s opening-day game at Stoke City on Saturday.
Buzzing to be here up the rams @dcfcofficial ? pic.twitter.com/P0wj9DPcpH
— Bobby clark (@Bobbylclark10) August 5, 2025
“I think he (Derby manager John Eustace) knows that I’m at a point where I want to prove people wrong, and I’m hungry to play football again, especially being back in the UK,” Clark told Derby’s website.
According to Chronicle Live‘s Lee Ryder, Newcastle had been offered the chance to re-sign Clark on loan with a view to a deal worth £5 million, a move the midfielder was “open to.”
Clark joined Liverpool from Newcastle in 2021 in a deal worth £1.5 million. He went on to play 14 games and lift the League Cup with the club before his move to Austria.
Liverpool included a 17.5 percent sell-on clause in his move to Salzburg, and also had first refusal on taking him back, but they will not receive any additional funds after making a loan move to Derby.
Clark’s return to England offers a fresh start after a testing season at Salzburg, and he will join another former Liverpool player in Rhian Brewster after he signed on a free transfer.