Derby County Close in on Securing Deal for Leicester City Forward Tom Lawrence

Derby County are close to agreeing a deal to sign Leicester City forward Tom Lawrence within the next couple of days.

Clubcall have reported that the Rams are set to pay the Craig Shakespeare's side a fee of £7m as they look to improve their squad following a poor start to their Championship season.

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An opening day draw with recently relegated Sunderland was followed by a 2-0 home defeat to Midlands rivals Wolves on Saturday and Gary Rowett's side currently sit on one point after their first two games.

Derby have hopes of pushing for promotion to the Premier League, but have only made two signings so far, securing the return of Tom Huddlestone for £2m and Andre Wisdom from Liverpool for an undisclosed fee.

After losing key players Cyrus Christie, Tom Ince and Will Hughes, Rowett is keen to add Lawrence to bolster his squad and is currently pursuing the Welsh international as well as having other targets on his wish-list.

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The former Manchester United loanee had an impressive loan spell in the Championship with Ipswich last season scoring 11 goals in 36 games, including nine in the league. 

Lawrence struggled to break into the Foxes team since joining in 2013 and has only featured three times for the Foxes, spending time on loan in the Championship with Rotherham, Blackburn, Cardiff and the Tractor Boys. 

The 23-year-old is said to be keen on a move to Derby for a fresh challenge and regular first team football.