Derby County should consider ex-Portsmouth star on a free, here's why: Opinion | OneFootball

Derby County haven’t gotten off to the best of starts this season, and pressure is already mounting on Paul Warne.

The Rams came into the new season as one of the early favourites for promotion, but they have so far struggled to live up to that height.

They are six games into the new season, and they have won three but also lost three in League One, with their latest defeat being against Bolton Wanderers last weekend.

The club has struggled to find that consistent form, but despite being just four points off the top, pressure is already gathering on Warne.

The transfer window is, of course, closed, but that doesn’t mean transfer business can’t be done as the free agent market is very much open, and therefore, Derby may be wise to enter that market and pick up a certain Ronan Curtis on a free transfer.

What is Ronan Curtis’ current situation?

Curtis currently finds himself without a club, having left Portsmouth at the end of last season after rejecting a new contract.

The Republic of Ireland international has been at Portsmouth since July 2018, when he arrived from Derry City.

Curtis played 226 times for Pompey, and in that time, he scored 57 goals and grabbed 42 assists.

It may surprise many that the 27-year-old still remains a free agent, as he was always a standout performer on the South Coast.

So given his situation, Derby could be shrewd in adding the winger to their ranks as they bid to climb the League One table.

Why should Derby County look to sign Ronan Curtis?

Derby brought in some good additions in the summer transfer window, but you could say they didn’t do as well as probably Paul Warne wanted or the Derby fans expected.

It may be considered that they are still a little light at the top end of the pitch, an area that Warne wanted more bodies in.

So given the way Warne likes to play and the type of strikers they have in the squad, Derby may find it beneficial to add a player like Curtis to their team, even if it is for this season.

Curtis’ best season in a Portsmouth shirt was the 2019/20 season, where he scored 12 goals and assisted a further five in 35 league appearances.

That season he got an overall WhoScored.com rating of 7.26, as his performances throughout the campaign made him a constant threat.

That season, Curtis averaged an impressive three shots per game, while he is a winger who loves to take defenders on, and he did that 0.8 times that season. The tricky forward that he is, meant he was fouled 1.6 times, as per WhoScored.com.

He isn’t a player that is going to dictate on the ball, as he only averaged 25.6 passes per game in the 2019/20 season, but 1.4 were considered to be key passes, which helped him contribute to the assists he collected, as per WhoScored.com.

Curtis is only 27, so he still has plenty left to offer, especially in League One.

So if he were to join a side like Derby, fighting at the top end of the table, he could be a real difference-maker in the big games, offering that threat and skill that they may be missing now.