Ben Osborn

Derby-born Ben Osborn became Derby County’s first summer signing ahead of the 2024/25 Sky Bet Championship season in June 2024.

Osborn joined the Rams as a free agent after leaving Sheffield United at the end of his deal at Bramall Lane and he penned a two-year contract which will run until the summer of 2026.

The versatile player, who can be deployed in various midfield and defensive positions, linked up with Paul Warne’s squad after spending three of the last five seasons in the Premier League with the Blades.

Born in Derby, Osborn spent time in the Rams’ Academy in the early 2000s before making the short journey across the East Midlands to join Nottingham Forest’s youth set-up.

After progressing through the youth ranks with the Reds, he went on to make his senior bow for Forest in March 2014 during a Championship match against Ipswich Town - one of eight first-team appearances before the season’s end.

He went on to establish himself as a regular for Forest in the second tier during the 2014/15 campaign. Osborn made 40 appearances in total and, ironically, scored his first-ever senior goal in a 2-1 win for the Reds over Derby at Pride Park Stadium in January 2015. He scored twice more before the end of the season, in away wins at Brighton & Hove Albion and Reading.

Over the next four years, Osborn was a regular at the City Ground and recorded a total of 230 appearances, as well as being named the EFL Young Player of the Month for January 2016 and winning Forest’s 2017/18 Player of the Season award, before departing in the summer of 2019.

He made the switch to Sheffield United, who had just been promoted to the top-flight, in the lead-up to the 2019/20 season and made 18 appearances in total for the Blades in the COVID-19-impacted campaign.

Osborn appeared 27 times in 2020/21 and scored his first Premier League goal in a 2-1 loss at Leeds United, but the campaign ended with the Blades suffering relegation back to the Championship.

He remained a key player in 2021/22 as the Blades fought for an immediate return to the top flight before exiting the Play-Offs at the Semi-Final stage, while he also contributed the following season as United secured automatic promotion back to the Premier League - his first career promotion.

Osborn made 26 appearances in the 2023/24 campaign in the Premier League, with relegation confirmed at the end of the season, to take his total to 134 for the Blades ahead of the expiry of his contract. He scored five times during his five-year stint at Bramall Lane.

In all, he arrived at Derby having played 364 senior games and recorded 21 goals.

On the international stage, Osborn was capped by England at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-20 level. Across the age groups, he earned five caps in total.