That would make more sense to me, certainly - also an incentive to the kid to knuckle down and get on with impressing rather than rocking the boat.I can't see how this can be a free transfer, unless Derby want to pay up Duncan's contract. Duncan has 22 months left on his contract which, I would assume, pays him rather more than we would want to. He's not going to want to walk away from a lot of money, and financially challenged Derby are unlikely to want to pay him up. I think it will be a loan, initially until January, in the hope that it puts him in the shop window, and that the player actually does something that encourages a club to buy up his contract.
Obviously, in an ideal world, RL would have got a couple of targets over the line. But if that's not happening, then a cheeky wee punt on Duncan is probably worth it for a short term loan. Sure, it'd probably end up like Abraham last season, but for 3 months I'm not sure there's a lot to lose.
Still holding out hope for Eaves though......