DERBY County striker Liam Dickinson could be sent out on a season-long loan.

Dickinson joined the Rams in a £750,000 deal from Stockport County last summer but is still waiting to make his senior debut for the club.

The 23-year-old front man had three spells out on loan during his first season at Pride Park, with Huddersfield Town, Blackpool and Leeds United.

He enjoyed some success, scoring six goals in 13 appearances for Huddersfield and four in seven games for Blackpool, although he failed to find the net in eight outings with Leeds.

Dickinson has been unable to force his way into manager Nigel Clough's plans and has been linked with a permanent move away from Derby.

But Rams chairman of football Adam Pearson believes the club and player could benefit from another loan spell.

"There are bits of interest in Liam," said Pearson, "but I think at this stage, it could well be that he goes out on loan for another year.

"There is certainly a lot of interest at the bottom end of the Championship to buy him – but not at a price that we think is right.

"If we loan him out, we might want to put him into League One, where we think he will score a lot of goals and his value will go up.

"Would he be part of the plans here? It's doubtful, because he would be fifth or sixth choice striker and that is no good for Liam at the moment."

League One newcomers Charlton Athletic and Norwich City have been linked with a move for Dickinson, although Charlton have played down reports of their interest.

Another striker likely to leave Derby this summer – on a permanent basis – is Emanuel Villa.

The Argentine forward, known as Tito, is expected to return to South America.

"We expect to sell Tito Villa but it's dragging on," said Pearson.

"There is a lot of interest in him but it's a very complicated situation in relation to agents and the way South American clubs do business.

"It's quite a protracted process and could well go on for another three or four weeks yet.

"I think it's likely he will go back to South America. I think the player wants to play every week and, with the other players we have, I don't think we can guarantee him that."

Villa joined Derby for £2m from Mexican side UAG Tecos in January 2008.

He has scored nine goals in 53 appearances for the Rams, including 25 starts.

Pearson also confirmed that striker Nathan Ellington would be returning to Watford following his year-long loan at Derby.

Former Rams boss Paul Jewell brought Ellington in at the beginning of last season with a view to signing him on a free this summer.

Derby paid Watford a £1.5m loan fee but the 27-year-old is not part of Clough's plans for 2009-10.

Clough has already earmarked his five frontline strikers for next season – Rob Hulse, Chris Porter, Kris Commons, Steve Davies and Luke Varney.

"Nathan will definitely be going back to Watford when his loan ends on June 30," said Pearson.