"100% need to..." - Fan pundit urges Derby to take firm stance on Birmingham, Huddersfield and Hull target | OneFootball

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 winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has been attracting interest from across the Championship following an impressive first half of the season but Football League World's fan pundit Shaun Woodward is urging the club to keep hold of him.

After a slow start to the season, Derby are starting to click and are now firmly in the play-off positions as they aim to return to the Championship at the second time of asking.

Despite losing in their most recent league outing, Paul Warne has lifted the Rams up the League One table, taking them on a nine-match unbeaten run prior to their recent defeat.

At the start of 2024, Derby sit fourth in League One, five points behind Bolton Wanderers in the automatic promotion spots and three points behind Peterborough in third place with a game in hand.

A number of Derby's star players have attracted interest from teams in the Championship, including young midfielder Max Bird and key defender Eiran Cashin.

One of the key Derby men gathering plenty of interest is Mendez-Laing. The Guatamala international has been crucial in attack for the Rams this season, contributing with five goals and seven assists in 24 games so far.

The 31-year-old winger, who has played predominantly on the left, has averaged 1.7 shots per game, also averaging 2 key passes and 1.5 successful dribbles every game in League One.

Interest from the Championship

The winger has gained interest from several Championship clubs, including Huddersfield, Hull City, and Birmingham City, according to BBC reporter Alex Howell last month.

Two of the interested parties' managers have had Mendez-Laing previously and know what he can offer, with Terriers boss Darren Moore having the winger at Sheffield Wednesday and Liam Rosenior coaching him at Derby.

Derby County "100% need to keep him"

FLW's Derby County fan pundit Shaun Woodward, believes the Rams should look to keep hold of the winger until at least the end of the season, even if that means letting him leave for free in the summer.

Speaking to FLW, he said: "There is absolutely no point in letting Mendez-Laing go now.

"We might as well keep him until the end of the season and let him go for free because he's pretty much our only outlet, he's the only player at the moment that's got any pace about him and he's unpredictable. We need players like him if we are going to go up this season.

"We 100% need to keep him."