Football League World
·23 November 2024
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·23 November 2024
The Greens could be set for a busy January transfer window as Wayne Rooney looks to put his own mark on the squad
The January transfer window is getting ever closer and Plymouth Argyle will already be making decisions in terms of incomings and outgoings for the first month of 2025.
The Pilgrims continue to battle at the bottom of the Championship under Wayne Rooney, with the former Birmingham City boss likely to want to add to some key areas of his squad for the second half of the campaign.
As a result of that, the Devon outfit will likely need to offload some faces in order to find some room for new arrivals, meaning some big decisions will need to be made in terms of playing personnel over the next few weeks.
Here we take a look at who could well be out the door in the new year, as Argyle look to shuffle the pack in order to get the results they need to keep themselves in the second tier.
Unless anything changes in the next few weeks, Andre Gray will no longer be a Plymouth Argyle player in January 2025, with the striker only signing a short-term deal with the club in October.
Having returned to the English game from Saudi Arabia, the former Watford striker was only signed after frontman Muhamed Tijani suffered a hamstring injury, which saw the Nigerian ruled out until next year.
Since his arrival, Gray has largely been used off the bench, and scored his first goal for the club in a comeback 3-3 draw with Preston North End at Home Park, with his quality evident in the final third.
Whether the Greens decide to extend his deal to the end of the season remains to be seen, but as it stands he will be packing his bags before too long.
He may have only signed for the club in the summer, but it is evident that Rooney doesn’t rate Nathanael Ogbeta, with the full-back barely being given an opportunity this season.
Having started the 4-0 humiliation to Sheffield Wednesday on the opening weekend, the former Bolton Wanderers man has struggled for game time, and despite the injury issues in the backline, he still finds himself stuck on the substitutes’ bench.
A move away, either as a loan or a permanent deal, looks like the best option for all involved at this moment in time, with League One beckoning for the defender, who simply cannot be trusted in the second tier.
Jordan Houghton has found himself slipping down the pecking order at Home Park of late, with the former Chelsea man largely being used as a substitute this season, with Darko Gyabi and Adam Randell preferred as a midfield pair.
Adam Forshaw also edges ahead in the battle for minutes in the middle of the park, and the 29-year-old could well be on his way out of the club in January, with his contract set to elapse at the end of the season.
Recent reports from Swedish outlet Sportsbladet have linked Argyle with a move for Hammarby midfielder Fredrik Hammar in January, and if any move gets over the line for the 23-year-old, it will likely be Houghton’s name that is first on the chopping block to make room for the new recruit.
As good as Caleb Roberts looked when making his first league start for the club when Argyle travelled to Elland Road to face Leeds United recently, the option of a loan to a club in League One or League Two could be exactly what the 20-year-old needs to kick-start his career at this moment in time.
The Welsh youth international missed the start of the season through injury, and with the options in the engine room as stated above, the academy graduate could well be willing to learn his trade elsewhere for the second half of this season and prepare himself for the 25/26 campaign at Home Park.
There is no doubt he has plenty of quality in his boots but whether Rooney would be willing to stick him in if the battle against relegation intensifies would be doubtful and a temporary move away to another club in the EFL could well be beneficiary.
Since joining the club in January 2023, Callum Wright has failed to nail down a regular starting place in the Argyle squad, and two years on, his race could well be run at Home Park.
There is no question the former Blackpool man gives his all for the club when he gets on the pitch, but he just doesn’t seem to have the quality needed to compete at Championship level.
Lincoln City were said to be interested in the playmaker during the summer, and there will be more League One sides who would take an interest should he be allowed to leave, although it will likely depend on Argyle’s ability to bring in replacements in those areas.