John Eustace should launch Derby County raid for Blackburn Rovers outcast - He starred for him at Ewood Park | OneFootball

Derby County should line up a move to sign Makhtar Gueye from John Eustace's former club Blackburn Rovers in the January transfer window.

Derby County are beginning to find some form and they will hope they can head into the January transfer window in a position to really push towards the top six and the play-off places in the Championship.

Should the Rams indeed be capable of putting in an unlikely promotion challenge in the second-half of the campaign, they will likely need reinforcements in January and one man that should be targeted is Blackburn Rovers striker Makhtar Gueye, who has shown his best form in England when under the management of Eustace.

Derby managed to mathematically confirm their Championship status on the final day of last season before a major overhaul of the squad in the summer transfer window.

As a part of that overhaul, Derby continued to plunder the market for added experience, and bringing in players that Eustace had worked with previously also appeared a useful source of recruitment, as Danny Batth and Andreas Weimann followed the former Birmingham City boss from Ewood Park to Pride Park.

Not necessarily guaranteed starters, but players that Eustace knew well to fill out the squad, it wouldn’t be a surprise again for Eustace to raid the Lancastrians this winter either.

Gueye has had his critics at Blackburn, but it could well be an under the radar coup should Derby indeed plot to and successfully pull off his signing in the mid-season window.

Makhtar Gueye has proven he can be a handful for John Eustace at Blackburn Rovers - Derby County reunion could be wise

Last summer, Blackburn brought in Gueye from Belgian side Racing White Daring Molenbeek for a fee believed to be in the region of £1 million.

The Senegalese striker, formerly of French side Saint-Etienne and Spanish outfit Real Zaragoza respectively, didn’t have a prolific debut campaign for Rovers but did show signs of being a more than capable nuisance for Championship defences.

Having scored three in his first four appearances of the season, Gueye then became a bit of a peripheral figure for much of the first-half of the campaign, following a red card against Burnley in the East Lancashire derby in late-August.

He returned to being a more regular starter in December and again began to pick up his form again as Rovers went on a six-match winning streak to launch themselves into play-off contention.

Following Eustace’s departure in the early spring, Gueye, who appeared to have the profile of a striker well suited to Valerien Ismael’s style of football, returned to being a bit part player for Blackburn, and finished the 24/25 season with six goals and six assists from 44 Championship appearances.

He has gone on to make 11 league appearances so far this season ahead of Friday night's Lancashire derby clash with Preston, but all 11 of them have been from the bench, with Ismael preferring the likes of Yuki Ohashi and Andri Gudjohnsen ahead of him limiting his total second tier minutes to just 126 so far this term.

Having already been linked with Al Wahda, of the United Arab Emirates, over the summer, it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see the 27-year-old available for transfer this winter.

Makhtar Gueye would be a useful addition for Derby

If that was to be the case, then it would make sense for Derby to launch a move for Gueye, whether it be on a permanent basis or on loan, and not just for the reason that Eustace has worked with him in the past.

Having struggled for form at the start of this season, Eustace has begun to stumble upon a starting eleven that works for the Rams, with a recent 2-1 victory against Blackburn, prior to the November international break making it five wins on the bounce in the Championship.

In that game at Ewood Park, in-form Carlton Morris started up-front, supported by both Patrick Agyemang and Ben Brereton Diaz in an unusual lineup involving what almost appeared to be three so-called ‘big men’ leading the line.

Agyemang and Brereton Diaz, as well as Morris, have more to their game than that, but it is a combination of profiles that isn’t often seen at a higher level of the game – but it worked and is working.

As a result, though, it does limit Derby’s impact options from the bench, with Rhian Brewster something different, Lars-Jorgen Salvesen not necessarily having the desired impact since joining in January, and both Kayden Jackson and Corey Blackett-Taylor naturally fading to the periphery.

Another player with a similar target man-like profile of Morris and Agyemang, combined with the mobility and added dimension of Brereton Diaz, to challenge and cover for that trio would likely be a priority signing in January and Gueye falls into that category.

Derby won't want to see a promising play-off push de-railed due to a lack of firepower in reserve if and when it needs to be called upon, and with Gueye having shown he can contribute a decent amount of goal contributions whilst with Eustace at Blackburn, he could massively remove any concerns regarding that.