Five-minute read

Derby County officially announced their signing of 21-year-old Scotland international Max Johnston on a four-year deal from Austrian club SK Sturm Graz on Wednesday 27th August. The club fought off Italian clubs Bologna and Napoli for the right-back’s signature, and it’s looking like he could play a huge part in Eustace’s Derby rebuild.

He signs for an undisclosed fee (thought to be around £2.5m and add-ons that would take the number up to £4m) and his arrival could signal at least one outgoing for Derby. With his arrival, The Rams now have a total of four out and out right-backs in the squad (he joins Joe Ward, Ryan Nyambe, and Kane Wilson).

Potential Derby County departures

The most likely to leave at the moment seems to be Joe Ward in terms of quality, however, it would not be out of the question for any of the right-sided full-backs to make an exit. It might make sense for the club to cash in on Kane Wilson, who garnered some Championship attention in the January 2025 transfer window. Wilson has one year left on his contract after Derby triggered a one-year extension to his contract in May. It might also make sense for Eustace to move Nyambe on, as he prefers his full-backs to be more attack-minded – which is arguably not a talent of Nyambe’s.

“One of the most exciting full-backs in Europe”

Watching Johnston’s first interview with Derby, it’s clear that he is very confident and mature for his age, something he confirmed himself when describing moving from Motherwell to Graz at 19 years-old. He joins a long list of former Scottish Rams (and a current one in Craig Forsyth) and one can only hope that he writes his name into the history of Derby County.

One interesting little piece of trivia about the move is that Johnston’s father, Allan Johnston, and Derby loanee Bobby Clark’s father, Lee Clark, played together at Sunderland in the 90s.

In John Eustace’s pre-match press conference for their upcoming away fixture against first-year parachute payment team Ipswich Town, he described Johnston as one of “the most exciting full-backs in Europe”, and judging by Johnston’s experience and appeal to other top clubs in Europe, he’s correct. The full-back spent just over two years in Austria, and in that time he’s played in all three of UEFA’s continental competitions (Champions, Europa, and Conference leagues), in addition to winning two league titles and the Austrian Cup.

Derby County’s new ‘assets’

Another interesting little tidbit from Eustace’s press conference is the fact that he referred to Johnston as an asset for the club, that will grow in value as the club improves their performance and hopefully achieves promotion to the premier league. This is a similar statement to the one the Derby gaffer made when talking about the club’s statement signing of the summer, Patrick Agyemang. 

While it’s obvious Johnston and Agyemang have an important place in the squad for the coming season, it’s also clear that their signings represent a change in strategy from Derby’s previous ownership. It is a refreshing change to see David Clowes spend money on players that he intends to sell for a profit down the line. A much-needed change from the days of Mel Morris spending £5m+ on players and seeing them leave for peanuts (Krystian Bielik, I’m looking at you). Although, I’m sure we’d all like to forget about so-called Derby County fan Mel Morris and his interesting player amortisation strategies.

Max Johnston’s playing style

Johnston is an attacking full-back that has a similar playing style to Kane Wilson. He finds a lot of space on the right side when Sturm Graz go forward and is adept at providing assists to forward players, and even has a goal or two in his locker. He has an ability to find a man in the box, a trait that could come in very handy for The Rams, especially as the attacking midfield areas are currently ravaged by injury.