"Prime Ronaldo or Messi" - Derby County concerns laid bare as Kelechi Iheanacho revelation emerges | OneFootball

FLW's Rams fan pundit has name-dropped two of the best footballers of all time in response to links with Iheanacho

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…

Derby County are still yet to win a match in 2025, and that is despite adding a new striker to their ranks in the January window.

Norwegian attacker Lars-Jørgen Salvesen arrived from Viking in his native country, and he made an immediate impact by scoring in his first start against Cardiff City - a match that ended up in a 2-1 loss for the Rams.

Since then though, the 29-year-old hasn't found the back of the net - would Kelechi Iheanacho have done better?

A report from The Telegraph's John Percy suggests that the Rams hierarchy wanted to land the ex-Leicester City striker on a loan deal for the rest of the season from Sevilla, but they could not get an agreement in place - and he went to a Championship rival in the form of Middlesbrough.

Kelechi Iheanacho wouldn't have made "much difference" at Derby County as frustrations outlined

It's hard to believe that Derby ever had a realistic chance of landing Iheanacho's services, given they were sliding down the table in January and now find themselves at the bottom of the Championship pack.

The Nigerian would've brought a lot of experience and goalscoring know-how, but FLW's Rams fan pundit Shaun Woodward does not believe that Iheanacho would've been able to change the club's fortunes if he did arrive - and he believes even Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi at their Ballon d'Or-winning best wouldn't be able to turn around Derby's season right now.

"Without a doubt Iheanacho would've improved our starting 11, however, I don't think it would have made much difference to where we are right now," Shaun told FLW.

"You could stick prime Ronaldo or Messi up-front for Derby and I don't think it would make a blind bit of difference, because we've got wide men who can't cross a ball or beat a man and central midfielders who can't play a through ball, so they're getting no service at all.

"So, I don't think it matters who you put up-front. They're isolated, they're frustrated, and they're living off absolute scraps.

"Yes, he would've been a good signing, but he wouldn't have made much of a difference."

Kelechi Iheanacho isn't pulling up Middlesbrough trees - imagine how he'd be faring at Derby County

Middlesbrough landed Iheanacho on transfer deadline day in February as a short-term replacement for Emmanuel Latte Lath, but it's fair to say he's not having the desired impact so far.

The 28-year-old is yet to hit the back of the net from his four Championship outings, and after starting three matches in a row, Iheanacho found himself on a bench against Stoke and then only had a cameo against Derby themselves this past weekend.

When on the pitch, Iheanacho is surrounded by creative Boro players like Finn Azaz, Morgan Whittaker, Hayden Hackney and others, yet he still hasn't scored for the club - imagine how elusive chances would be if he was up-front for Derby, given Shaun's obvious criticisms of the club's wingers and midfielders.

It was hard to ever see a player of his experience dropping into a Championship relegation battle, so it was a pretty audacious move from the Rams to try and get a deal done - John Eustace now needs to focus on what bodies he has at his disposal currently to get Derby out of the mess they are in.