Derby County told to sign "goalscoring midfielder" - Kenzo Goudmijn "didn’t seem to cut it" | OneFootball

FLW's Derby fan pundit feels that an attacking goalscorer will be key to pushing up the Championship this season

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…

For a newly promoted side, Derby County reached their 2024/25 goal of staying in the Championship.

Despite losing his first three games at the helm, hiring John Eustace proved to be an inspired choice, as the Rams boss once again led a side to safety through an upturn in form, with six of Derby’s 13 league wins all season coming in the final 11 games.

However, if there was to be one qualm surrounding their performances as a whole last campaign, it was their general lack of goalscoring prowess.

The Rams netted just 48 goals last season, a number worse than only four other teams. 10 of those goals were scored by Jerry Yates, who was on loan from Swansea City for the campaign, and four were by Marcus Harness, who was on loan from Ipswich Town.

Derby have worked to fix the problem up front, with Carlton Morris and Patrick Agyemang arriving so far this summer, but FLW’s Rams fan pundit, Shaun Woodward, believes that a goalscoring attacking midfielder is also needed to boost the goal tally next season.

Derby fan pundit issues demand for a goalscoring attacking midfielder

“We desperately need a goalscoring midfielder,” Woodward told Football League World.

Whilst Ebou Adams’ six goals actually placed him second in the team’s scoring charts last season, the Rams’ fan pundit knows that the 29-year-old, like Liam Thompson, is more of a defensively-minded middleman.

“We’ve got the legs in Adams and Thompson, but we really lack someone who could get us eight, nine, ten goals in a season in that attacking midfield role.”

“Kenzo [Goudmijn] didn’t seem to cut it much last season, a bit lightweight who struggled with the demands of the Championship…I don’t know if he could become that player, but I’d be personally looking for someone who has already done it at this level and potentially higher.”

Woodward is excited about the signings of Morris and Agyemang, whom he called “good frontmen,” but he’s sure that Eustace needs a better attacking midfielder behind the new strike partnership.

“We need that person who's going to chip in with some goals behind them, because that was our problem last season: We didn’t score enough.

“I think that attacking midfield is the position we desperately need. To support the frontmen to get the goals we need to survive or to push for mid-table.”

Derby must add a young attacking midfielder before the beginning of the new season

Kenzo Goudmijn started just once in the 14 games managed by John Eustace towards the end of the season, and was an unused sub in the final three. Therefore, it’s likely that a new attacking midfielder will be through the door at Pride Park this summer.

Derby have already signed Andreas Weimann, who performed well under Eustace at Blackburn Rovers last season, netting seven and assisting two, so perhaps the 33-year-old could be the man in mind to carry the midfield scoring load.

However, Weimann once again spent a period out through injury towards the end of last season, and whilst 30 league appearances were his most since the 2022/23 campaign, Derby fans will likely be wanting someone more reliable to come in and play the entire season.

That's not to say that the 26-time Austrian international will be a bad signing, but someone else to provide competition and fit in if Weimann is unavailable should be on the shopping list ahead of their trip to Stoke City on August 9.