Derby County’s relegation to League One is now official, leaving a couple of former Arsenal academy players with a decision to make.

Despite 13 wins and 13 draws this season, Derby County’s heavy points penalties have left them 10 points away from Championship safety with just three games to go.

The club’s subsequent relegation will be a huge disappointment to a few former Gunners, with Luke Plange, Krystian Bielik, and Malcolm Ebiowei all playing for Derby this season.

19-year-old striker Plange has impressed since breaking into the Derby senior side, scoring four goals and assisting two since his debut for them in December. He joined from Arsenal in the summer of 2021.

Fortunately for Plange, his future is already sorted. He impressed enough in his early appearances to earn a move to Crystal Palace in January, and he’s only currently back with Derby on loan.

Then there’s Bielik, under contract with Derby until 2024. The defensive midfielder is highly rated when he plays, but a catalogue of injury problems mean he doesn’t spend as much time on the pitch as he’d like.

Bielik is one of Derby’s most expensive signings in their history, and they’ll probably hope to recoup some of what they bought him for in the summer.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that Derby probably need to sell Bielik just to raise the funds to pay Arsenal his initial fee. They still owe the vast majority of that £10m deal.

18-year-old Ebiowei has made himself a regular for Derby in recent months. He’s on a run of eight consecutive Championship starts since March 5th, and looks to be developing into the player he promised to be before his departure from Arsenal in 2020.

Once again, a departure seems likely, particularly as Ebiowei’s contract expires at the end of the season. Derby are hoping to keep him and extend his deal, but that seems unlikely right now.

So despite a strong former Arsenal contingent going down with Derby next month, it’s very possible none of them will still be in the team when their League One campaign kicks off this summer.