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Derby County are interested in signing Everton midfielder Kieran Dowell on loan.

The 21-year-old has had previous loan spells in the Championship with Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United, helping the Blades secure promotion to the Premier League last season.

Everton are understood to be prepared to send Dowell out on a temporary basis again in 2019-20, with Derby's second-tier rivals Huddersfield Town also linked with the England Under-21 international.

Phillip Cocu is yet to make his first new signing as Rams boss following his appointment on Friday - but the Dutchman has a link with Dowell's parent club Everton.

The Toffees' current director of football Marcel Brands worked with Cocu at PSV Eindhoven, where Cocu won three Eredivisie titles between 2015 and 2018.

It was Brands who promoted the ex-Barcelona midfielder to initially become PSV's caretaker manager in 2012, before he went on to get the main job on a permanent basis.

According to the Liverpool Echo, "the arrival of Cocu in England could potentially open the door for a new partnership between the pair to begin."