Derby County urged to offload "deadwood" winger in January transfer window | OneFootball

Tom Barkhuizen has struggled for minutes this season and the Rams have been told to let him leave in the new year

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Derby County have been urged to offload out-of-favour winger Tom Barkhuizen in the January transfer window to free up space and money for new additions to Paul Warne's squad.

The Rams have had a decent start to the new season on their return to the Championship, and Warne will be eyeing the new year as a key month to make numerous new signings to ensure that his side are not dragged into a relegation battle as the campaign wears on.

Derby have mainly turned to on-loan striker Jerry Yates to score their goals so far this term, with the likes of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Corey Blackett-Taylor and Marcus Harness preferred in wide areas, and 31-year-old Barkhuizen has struggled for minutes up to now as a result.

The ex-Preston North End man is into his third season at Pride Park, and was once a key man in the second-tier at Deepdale, yet cannot force his way into Warne's side this season, and may well seek an exit in January for a better guarantee of game-time.

Derby fan pundit offers Tom Barkhuizen exit verdict

Barkhuizen was an important figure for Derby in League One last season, as he registered six goals and six assists in 37 appearances and 19 starts, but his impact has not been as prevalent this time around.

The Blackpool-born winger has only featured in seven games so far this term, with just one start in the Championship on the opening day of the season against Blackburn Rovers.

He also suffered a calf injury in September, leading to two months out of action, and our Rams fan pundit Shaun Woodward wants to see him leave in the January window alongside some other out-of-favour players to make space in the squad for new signings, after we asked him if the Rams should look to offload him in the new year.

“Tom Barkhuizen needs to go, along with a few others,” Shaun told FLW.

“They’re just deadwood at Derby, they’re taking up a wage of someone else that we could potentially bring in.

“He won’t be happy just sat on the bench, or playing in the reserves at the moment, so hopefully he’ll be manufacturing a move himself.

“He needs to go and play. He needs minutes.

“He is clearly not in Paul Warne’s plans, as he doesn’t even bring him on or look at him as someone who can come off the bench and change a game for us.

“If I was him, I’d be looking to leave. Hopefully that would free up a wage for potentially a young Premier League loanee to come in and bolster us in January.”

Barkhuizen should not be short of Football League suitors

Barkhuizen is now into the latter stages of a career that has seen him rack up 225 appearances in the second-tier, as well as 110 in League Two and 78 games in League One, and his sizeable EFL experience should mean that a good few clubs are interested in his signature in the new year.

The 31-year-old started out with Blackpool, and first enjoyed a breakthrough season on loan at Hereford United in the fourth-tier, before he joined Morecambe in 2015 and was again impressive in League Two to earn a move to Preston in 2016.

Barkhuizen became a fan-favourite at Deepdale for his standout showings in the Championship over a number of years, and helped them to push for the play-off places in both the 2017/18 and 2019/20 seasons, eventually leaving the club with over 200 appearances to his name after being released in 2022.

While he has been successful at Derby, and played a key part since his arrival that same summer, his time at Pride Park does look like it is coming to a natural end, but Barkhuizen should have little trouble finding another promotion-chasing third-tier team to move to, preferably one that is in need of added depth out wide.