Key Derby County detail in Louie Sibley, Oxford United move revealed | OneFootball

The boyhood Ram has finally left the club after years of service.

Highlights

Derby County have not received any compensation fee from Oxford United after Rams academy product Louie Sibley joined the U's as a free agent, according to BBC Derby's Dominic Dietrich.

When players are under the age of 24, and they are offered a new deal by their current club which they reject in favour of another opportunity with a different team, the previous club of said player is paid a compensation fee by the team receiving the under-24.

This is also what is referred to as a development fee or training compensation.

Sibley, 22, has left Derby after 15 years with the club. He came through their youth ranks, into the first team, and recently helped them to win promotion to the Championship.

But he has now left County and headed to the Kassam Stadium to join fellow promoted side Oxford.

Usually, the U's would have to pay a fee to the Rams because of the circumstances of the player, but not in this case. According to Dietrich, County are not entitled to any compensation fee by Des Buckingham's side.

This is because the wages that were offered to Sibley this time round were lower than the ones that he was previously being paid by the club.

Derby County's departing message to Louie Sibley

When the Rams announced their retained list for the upcoming season, they stated that they were still in negotiations with Sibley over a new deal.

However, on Tuesday, it was announced that the 22-year-old would be leaving the club. A statement on the club's website said: "Derby County would like to place on record its thanks to Louie for his contribution throughout his time at the club and wish him every success in his future endeavours."

He played in 173 first-team games for the club, and scored 20 times. His final campaign as a Derby player saw him start half of his side's league fixtures.

The left-wing back had been linked with a move to Rotherham United, but he opted to try and test himself at the Championship level away from Pride Park.

Louie Sibley has a lot to prove at Oxford

Sibley really needs consistent starts after a few years of inconsistency. His minutes have been up and down, and he's approaching the age where he needs to find a solid spot in a team somewhere. That lack of guarantee over playing time may have factored into his decision to leave Derby, as well as the offer of lower wages.

He primarily played as a left wing-back under Paul Warne, but he is capable of playing in the middle of midfield as well, or even in a slightly more advanced role.

With the depth that Oxford already have at left-back, plus their expected addition of AFC Wimbledon full-back Jack Currie, the chances are that Buckingham will want him as a centre-mid option or perhaps even further forward after the departure of Josh Murphy.

Things are fairly congested there too. Cameron Branagan, Ruben Rodrigues, Will Vaulks, Josh McEachran; these are all players that were in the building before the 22-year-old, ones that he will likely have to beat out to earn a regular starting spot.

His versatility will help him, because he can plug gaps where needed, but he surely won't just want to be a Swiss army knife that just plugs gaps where needed.

The former Derby man may well emerge as the number one option in one of these positions, but he's got a lot of work to do to make that happen.