‘An affordable absence’ – Derby County faced with fresh transfer decision: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Championship promotion rivals Fulham and AFC Bournemouth are both weighing up a potential move for Derby County shot-stopper Kelle Roos ahead of the January window, according to Football Insider.

Also attracting interest from Premier League outfit Norwich City, the Dutchman has established himself as the Rams’ first-choice shot-stopper ahead of former Scotland number one David Marshall and summer signing Ryan Allsop, making 16 league appearances so far this term.

Keeping five clean sheets in the process, the 29-year-old has certainly played his part in the Rams’ bid for survival, despite making the odd mistake like he did against AFC Bournemouth late last month.

Quiz: Has Tom Lawrence ever scored a goal for Derby County at each of these 26 stadiums?

Considering he’s one of the first names on the teamsheet for Wayne Rooney’s men, they will be reluctant to let go of him as they look to retain stability to give them the very best chance of avoiding relegation against all odds.

However, his contract at Pride Park runs out next summer and with the club still in administration, they could be forced into a sale with two other goalkeepers in Marshall and Allsop available at their disposal.

But they can afford to cash in on him when January comes around? We asked three of our Football League World writers for their verdicts on this key talking point.

Marcus Ally

Plain and simply yes, they can afford to lose him. I am very on board with this cost-cutting attempt, firstly because the Rams need to reduce their expenditure significantly to become a more attractive proposition to potential buyers, but also mainly because Kelle Roos should not be Derby’s number one in the first place.

Ryan Allsop and David Marshall provide credible cover options between the sticks, while Roos has made a catalogue of costly errors in his Rams career that make it hard to understand why he has been Wayne Rooney’s preferred choice this season.

If there is to be a firesale in January, Derby supporters will not be losing sleep over Kelle Roos’ departure.

Billy Mulley

It is an interesting one because Derby possess three senior goalkeepers who all deserve to be operating at Championship level, so I am not entirely sure that they will be too disheartened if he does move on.

Roos has not been too convincing during the early stages of the season, which makes Fulham and Bournemouth’s interest rather strange to me, especially with both clubs holding Premier League aspirations.

A lot more is being asked of Roos this season, with there seeming to be a big emphasis on building from the back, even when up against a team who press high.

This has led to a couple of errors on his part, and as we know, a goalkeeping mistake tends to be more costly than further up the field.

Roos is a good shot-stopper and has good reflexes, but is still adapting to the demands of Wayne Rooney’s way of operating.

Ryan Allsop and David Marshall are good options for Derby to have if Roos does depart, so I don’t think the Rams are dependent on him staying by any stretch of the imagination.

Adam Jones

This is an affordable sacrifice, especially with David Marshall and Ryan Allsop available as capable Championship options.

Why they signed a third senior goalkeeper in their current situation remains a mystery, because they needed to target other areas that severely lacked depth and for me, bringing Allsop in was one of their worst decisions of the summer.

However, he has performed reasonably well in Roos’ occasional absence and with the Dutchman being quite easily replaced, this is a sale the Rams’ fans may not have any qualms with, even those who like him between the sticks.

In their current situation, he’s ideally the man that needs to instead of the likes of Max Bird and Louie Sibley, because the duo are two players they should be looking to keep hold of for the long term if they can.

If selling Roos means they can tie some of their younger players down to new contracts, it would be worth cashing in. There are no doubts about that.