"I’ll let him off the hook" - Claim made on "underwhelming" £1m Rotherham United star | OneFootball

We spoke to our Rotherham United fan pundit to discuss whether Sam Nombe could turn his time at the club around

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...

Rotherham United striker Sam Nombe has been told his goalscoring record has to improve to live up to his £1million price-tag, despite his "excellent" all-round play.

The 26-year-old joined the Millers in the summer of 2023 from Exeter City for a seven-figure fee, thought to be around £1million, but he struggled for goals in his first season at the New York Stadium, scoring just three Championship goals as they were relegated to League One.

Nombe has already improved on last season's tally, finding the back of the net four times in all competitions this season, and there are signs he could live up to his price-tag, but given the money they spent on him, he'll need to start adding more goals.

We asked our Rotherham United fan pundit, Tom Eyre, whether he thinks Nombe could be someone that scores 20-25 goals a season to live up to their price-tag, and while the 26-year-old has underwhelmed so far, he believes he could still make a big impact.

Speaking to Football League World, Tom said: "It’s safe to say that Nombe has been underwhelming based on his price-tag.

"He is an excellent striker, all bar the finishing, and that’s what sets him aside from that £1million price-tag.

"If he could add 20-25 goals a season to his game, he’d live up to the price-tag.

“I still think he can, but the system that we use doesn’t suit him, he’s in and out of the team and had various strike partners, so it’s tough for him to find the consistency, so I don’t blame him for not getting 20-25 goals, but if you are a million pound striker you’ve got to be reaching 10-15 at least no matter what the circumstances are so I’d say I’m underwhelmed.

"But he came with a hefty price-tag and some unrealistic expectations to begin with, so I’ll let him off the hook there.”

Sam Nombe will be looking to replicate his Exeter City form at Rotherham United

During his League One season with Exeter City, Nombe scored 15 goals for a side that finished in 14th place, and his tally for the season in all competitions was 17, with nine assists too.

That was the sort of form that saw Millers boss at the time, Matt Taylor, reunite with the striker after working with him at Exeter, and it's clear that he has the tools to succeed at League One level.

Nombe is the Millers' record signing, and it's not unfair for supporters to have expected more from him, but as Tom alluded to, he came with some unrealistic expectations, and it was always going to be hard for him to succeed in a side that struggled as much as Rotherham did last season.

He's already surpassed his goal tally from last season, which will do wonders for his confidence, and you can't help but feel that Steve Evans should have some faith in the striker as he will come good.

Nombe has done it at League One level before for a poorer side, and there's no reason why, with a little bit of confidence, he can't come good in front of goal and justify his price-tag.