How Derby County could free up £13.8k p/w on their wage bill in January | OneFootball

The Rams will be looking to offload some of their out of favour players in the January transfer window.

Derby County will be looking forward to the January transfer window after a solid first-half of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Rams have had an excellent year, with promotion to the Championship in April the highlight for many. However, they have had to perform in the division since going up from League One, and they have done so at different points.

Paul Warne's side have run into some problems in the second tier, but wins over the likes of Bristol City, Coventry City and Middlesbrough have given supporters hope that they have enough to compete.

However, improvements will be needed in the upcoming transfer window, and freeing up some of the wage bill is the key to ensuring that Derby can make the moves that they want to. Using Capology, Football League World have taken a look at how the Rams can free up an estimated £13,803-per-week.

Conor Washington

Conor Washington's time at Pride Park has been a difficult one, with injuries, selection difficulties and a lack of scoring plaguing him so far.

He has been kept away from the first team for nearly the entirety of the season, making the bench just a couple of times, and it seems unlikely that he will be offered the opportunity to impress Warne once again.

Derby need to free up some of their wage bill, and Washington could help with this. According to Capology's estimates, the 32-year-old earns £6,500-a-week, and at the moment this is wasted money.

The former Rotherham United man's contract is due to expire in the summer, but moving him on before then is a must. Washington scored just three times in League One last season, but he was useful in the first-half of the season, and he could be of use to a team in the third tier once again.

The striker is in the final couple of years of his career, and playing consistently will be his main aim, and it is obvious that is not going to happen at Derby. Therefore, he will have to be sold in January.

Tom Barkhuizen

Similar to Washington, Tom Barkhuizen has struggled with injuries, especially this season, and he has been forced to wait his turn to play in the Championship.

He featured in all four of the Rams' first four games, but then was forced to miss out with a calf injury, and has been used in small amounts since.

Barkhuizen does provide decent cover on the wing, but Derby need an improvement on him, and he is not in Warne's plans to the same level as Kayden Jackson and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

At 31, he is at an age that the Rams will be looking to move on from, and instead bring in another, younger winger to fill in the role that he is currently playing.

The ex-Preston North End ace played a key role in helping his team to the Championship, but his time at Pride Park looks as though it is coming to a natural end, and with his weekly wage estimated by Capology to be £7,308, this money could be used elsewhere.