Crystal Palace reunion could do wonders for Derby County in League One promotion race: View | OneFootball

Highlights

Paul Warne will see this transfer window as a chance for him to further strengthen Derby County’s promotion hopes.

The Rams made a very up-and-down start to the League One campaign, but after a few weeks, Derby got back on track.

Warne’s side were playing catch up, but a run of some excellent results in the last few weeks has seen them not only close the gap on the play-offs, but now in contention for an automatic spot.

Pressure is on Warne and Derby this season, as failing to reach the top six last season means there’s a sense of expectation they need to meet in this campaign.

On their day, Derby are one of the strongest sides in the division, but they know they are competing against a lot of other good teams, so this month gives them an opportunity to improve their options.

One way of improving their options could be by looking at a former player in Malcolm Ebiowei, who looks set to leave Crystal Palace.

It was reported by Football Insider, that the Palace youngster is likely going to leave the club on loan in this transfer window.

The 20-year-old has yet to appear in the Eagles' first team this season but has appeared in their matchday squad on nine occasions.

The report adds that, with a loan move likely this month, several EFL clubs are interested in signing the forward.

It adds that Ebiowei himself is keen to go out on loan in the second half of this season, and the Premier League side is willing to sanction it as they want him to play regular football.

This will be the first time that Ebiowei has left Palace on loan, as he joined the club in the summer of 2022, and in January last year, he signed for Hull City on loan for six months.

Now, with the young attacker looking set for a loan move this month, his former club Derby should be looking at a potential deal.

As mentioned, Derby not only finds themselves in a play-off race, but they now have a chance of finishing in the top two.

Therefore, they need to come out of this transfer window a lot stronger than when they went into it, and adding a player like Ebiowei could help them just do that.

In the 2021/22 season, Ebiowei started 11 of the 16 Championship games he played, resulting in 952 minutes of football. In that campaign, Ebiowei scored one goal and chipped in with two assists, as per Fbref.com.

That meant he had an expected xG of 2.0 and an expected xAG of 1.7. He averaged 0.09 goals per 90 minutes and an assist 0.19 times per 90 minutes. In those games, Ebiowei also made 62 progressive carries and 32 progressive passes. He had 23 shots at goal, with six of them being on target, meaning he had an accuracy of 26.1%, as per Fbref.com.

Ebiowei is still very much a raw talent for the Championship, but he needs game time, and wherever he goes this month, he will be eager to prove what he’s capable of doing to Palace.

The 20-year-old will want to join a side where he knows he will play and where he feels comfortable, and Derby could be the best place, as he has shined for the club before, and he would surely love to help them return to the second tier.

However, the one concern would be that the Rams being in League One may put them at a disadvantage in the race for his signature, as Palace will probably be looking to loan him to a Championship side.But, Ebiowei could play a big role in his return to Derby, as he can make it clear to his club that he would like to return to the Rams and help them seal promotion to the Championship.

Bringing in the exciting attacker would certainly do wonders for the Rams in the League One promotion race.