'Agyemang can live up to transfer fee'

Patrick Agyemang has scored five goals in 12 appearances for the United Stats men's national team

New Rams forward Patrick Agyemang can live up to his hefty price tag, according to someone who knows him better than most.

The 24-year-old USA international signed from MLS side Charlotte FC earlier this week for a fee which could rise to £7.3m.

Agyemang scored 17 goals in 59 MLS regular-season appearances for Charlotte after they recruited him from the University of Rhode Island as the 12th overall pick in the 2023 draft.

He scored on his international debut after being called up by USA boss Mauricio Pochettino in January and has netted a further five goals in 12 appearances for his country.

Andy Quy, a former goalkeeper who was on the books at Derby in the mid-90s and later coached in the Rams academy, was part of the coaching set-up at Charlotte FC from October 2021 to November 2023.

The 48-year-old told BBC Radio Derby: "We took Patrick out of college in 2023. He was very raw but we could certainly see the potential.

"He always produced something special when he came on the pitch and caused the opposition problems.

"He's a big guy, those arms and elbows move around a lot and he holds people off well. He's going to find the physicality of the league something he needs to adapt to.

"The intensity of the games will be different and the number of games he'll have to deal with over the season will make a difference but he's certainly robust enough and fit enough and a good enough athlete to be able to deal with that."

Quy admitted Agyemang's rise had possibly come quicker than he had expected.

"When he first came in he talked about what his goals were and that was to play in Europe and play in the US national team and those things have come around for him really quickly.

"He's settled into those things, he's heading in the right direction, he's got the move he wanted, there's a good sized price tag on it but he's certainly got the shoulders to stand up to that."