Derby County could bolster promotion ambitions with swoop for out-of-favour Luton Town forward: Opinion | OneFootball

Derby County's maintained promotion run faltered at the final hurdle in aching fashion as they fell to defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on the final day, with results elsewhere condemning them to a second successive season of League One football.

It came as a bitter blow to a side who had surfaced as a real mainstay in the play-off positions for the majority of the campaign, though Paul Warne cannot afford to dwell upon the past and must now cast his eyes towards building a reinvigorated squad capable of going all the way next year.

Those ambitions have been wounded with the departure of 25-goal forward David McGoldrick to boyhood club Notts County, and while he will naturally need to be replaced swiftly, Warne's work should also encircle improving on what he already has at his disposal.

And this could well mean taking advantage of Carlos Mendes Gomes' situation at Luton Town, with the Kenilworth Road exit door appearing imminent.

What is Carlos Mendes Gomes' Luton Town situation?

Mendes Gomes was signed in June 2021 after helping Morecambe to promotion from League Two, even slotting home the winning goal in the play-off final against Newport County.

That season, the Spaniard would find the back of the net on no less than 16 occasions, and it was believed that he would align within Luton's philosophy of acquiring young, upcoming talent from the lower leagues who were capable of acclimatizing to the club's gradual progression and provide long-term foundations.

Indeed, he seemed primed to forge an instant influence on proceedings with the Hatters, with then-manager Nathan Jones telling the club's website at the time: "We believe we've got one not just for the future, but one who can really impact now as well."

But now, some two years on, Mendes Gomes is yet to receive the opportunity to showcase his talents in Hertfordshire.

Despite arriving with a substantial degree of excitement and promise, he was only licensed with two league starts in his debut campaign, and appeared merely seven more times in the Championship.

Then, as Luton plotted a second attempt at promotion after missing out in the play-offs the season prior, Mendes Gomes headed back up to the North West for a loan stint with League One outfit Fleetwood Town, where he would return nine goals from 37 outings across all competitions.

Luton's subsequent Premier League push proved successful as they defeated the odds to accompany Burnley and Sheffield United in the top-flight, though such fortunes may well end up concluding Mendes Gomes' career at the club.

Given that the former Atletico Madrid academy prospect faced such a severe struggle for sufficient game time while they were in the Championship, there seems next to no scope for him to feature a division above - and it is hard to say he has warranted that either, even if he had deserved a fair crack at it beforehand.

Whether Championship clubs will fancy staking a move - be it on loan or permanently - is yet unknown, although it would come as no surprise to see a whole host of admirers in League One courting his signature before long, and Derby could do themselves the world of good by entering the imminent race.

Why would Carlos Mendes Gomes be a good signing for Derby County?

When provided with regular minutes on the pitch, Mendes Gomes has, quite simply, supplied the goods.

His breakout season with Morecambe dispensed a real reflection of the ability he carries, and although he did not post quite equal numbers up at Fleetwood, he still proved a quality operator there, too.

Incredibly direct, Mendes Gomes possesses searing speed and is not shy to face up and take on his man, all the while sustaining a serious goal threat with both feet that can change games in the blink of an eye.

Handily, he is also immensely versatile, and is comfortable on either flank as well as up top or in attacking midfield.

In a grueling 46-game slog where injuries tend to pile up - just ask Warne himself - and physical and mental fatigue both enter the fore, positional flexibility is a much-desired asset at this level, with the ability to play in such a wide range of attacking areas very much a premium.

This skill-set would be advantageous to Derby, who do have capable wide players but not ones who can operate in as many positions as Mendes Gomes, and certainly not centrally.

Tom Barkhuizen and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing were both important components of the system at times and injected width, directness and pace into the side, but they are not individuals that you could necessarily trust to play on the wing one week, and as a no.10 the next.

And Barkhuizen's end product was somewhat turbulent throughout the campaign as he scored only four times, a tally bettered by Mendes Gomes who was also in a considerably weaker, less creative side.

But Mendez-Laing was much more fruitful and weighed in with seven league goals and a further eight assists, and his place in the side looks safe for another season.

Indeed, a pairing of Mendez-Laing and Mendes Gomes on either flank would surely wreak havoc, and it would be difficult to find too many third-tier full-backs capable of controlling the combined threat that they would administer in unison.

And he may already be present on Warne's radar, courtesy of scoring at Pride Park back in March and also the overarching call of duty to add more goals to the side and acquire players capable of doing so from wide areas.

He fits all the criteria, and it would make a lot of sense to bring him to Derbyshire ahead of a fresh promotion surge in the 2023/24 campaign.