Derby County have been told that a move for Luton Town striker Cauley Woodrow “is not the answer” and have instead been urged to target younger options.
A report from Alan Nixon via his Patreon over the past weekend states that Woodrow is a target for the Rams, but that Luton would need to find a replacement before sanctioning a deal for the 29-year-old to leave.
Derby are currently lacking depth at striker, particularly when it comes to having genuine Championship-standard options, and Friday’s 4-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers was a bit of a wake-up call that further transfer business is needed if they’re to survive in the second tier.
Woodrow is vastly experienced and played in the Premier League just last year, but he’s been less than prolific in recent seasons, so it remains to be seen if he would be a good addition to Paul Warne’s squad.
Derby County told to avoid signing Cauley Woodrow
FLW’s Derby County fan pundit, Shaun Woodward, believes that Woodrow is someone that Derby should avoid signing this summer, and has cited his poor goalscoring form in recent seasons as the reason why he shouldn’t be signed.
Instead, Shaun would like to see Derby sign a talented, young striker with something to prove.
Speaking to Football League World, Shaun said: “For me, Cauley Woodrow is not the answer.
“He’s another striker that is pushing 30, and he’s barely scored a goal for three seasons. I think he’s scored 10 goals in three seasons. Yes, he’s been at a higher level, but a striker needs to be scoring goals.
“He’s not the kind of player who is going to come in and hit the ground running if he does sign. We’ve got Collins and Washington who can do his role, and I think we need someone who is a step up from them and I don’t think he’s the answer.
“We need someone who is a lot younger, and if Warne isn’t going to trust Brown, then we need to go out and find someone, maybe a Premier League youngster on loan who can come in with a bit of swagger, no fear and really give it a good crack for us.
“From the first showing the other night, we looked desperately short up front, and we can’t really judge until Yates’ suspension is over, but at the moment our attacking options do not look great.
“Jackson and Mendez-Laing are not central figures. They need to be out wide, supplying or cutting in, and we need that vocal point. It could be Yates, but hopefully we’ll get someone else in who could come in and impress because we desperately need it.”
Cauley Woodrow would be an uninspiring signing for Derby County
Woodrow is vastly experienced at Championship level, but as Shaun alluded to above, he’s scored just ten goals in the last three seasons, a really poor return which wouldn’t inspire too much confidence at Pride Park.
You can understand Derby’s interest in him as he’s played in the Championship for a number of seasons and even has a promotion to the Premier League on his CV, but they need someone who will score goals, and Woodrow doesn’t look like he’ll be that man.
| Cauley Woodrow’s last three seasons – Transfermarkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | P | G | A |
| 2021/22 | Championship | 29 | 4 | 1 |
| 2022/23 | Championship | 32 | 3 | 1 |
| 2023/24 | Premier League | 29 | 3 | 1 |
A prolific goalscorer won’t come cheap, but there must be better options out there for an affordable price rather than signing Woodrow, who has struggled in front of goal recently.
The 29-year-old has broken into double figures for goals in a Championship season previously, but he hasn’t done so since the 2020/21 campaign, and there would understandably be questions marks over whether he’s able to do so again.
We know that the Rams don’t possess the spending power that some of the clubs in the division do, but Woodrow would be an uninspiring signing especially given their need for a regular goalscorer.
