3/1 To Win
Forward Tom Barkhuizen is ready for a new challenge in his career and cannot wait to get going with Derby County after signing a two-year contract.
The 28-year-old has joined the club from Preston North End where he has spent the last six years of his career, but he is now ready to test himself in a new environment having joined the Rams on a contract which runs until the summer of 2024.
After joining, Barkhuizen spoke to RamsTV and discussed his reasons for joining the club and being part of the rebuild following the takeover by Clowes Development (Ltd) yesterday.
On Signing For Derby…
It’s been a long two weeks. I had my wedding and then my honeymoon so I got that out the way and then enjoyed my time off - but I am delighted to be here. Let’s go!
On Being Part Of The Derby Rebuild…
Hopefully it’s the start of good times for a lot of people. The club and fans have been through a hell of a ride for the last 18 months and not knowing whether they were coming or going but thankfully everything is over the line for the club and now we can start bringing players in and seeing what we can do in the season ahead. It’s going to be a tough season, we are going to be arguably the biggest team in the league so teams are going to want to beat us home and away when they come to our stadium. We need to be ready for that. We need to be ready for different types of games and we have a big season ahead and want to get back promoted to the Championship as soon as possible.
On The Reason He’s Joined Derby…
When Wayne Rooney was still the manager, I met with Liam Rosenior first and spoke to Wayne on the phone but I got a good vibe off Liam straight away. He didn’t have to sell the club to me, I know it’s a massive club and they had a good idea of how they want to use me and made me feel like I wanted to be here. It’s always nice to be appreciated by opposition teams and the 25,000 or 30,000 a week is a big pull too. Coming to a Premier League standard training ground sells itself and once the takeover was done, it was straight-forward. I’m excited and ready to go.
On Entering A New Challenge…
I knew last summer that my time was coming to an end. When you spend so long at a club you do get to a crossroads. There was a mutual thing at the end with Preston where we both thought it was time to go and no hard feelings either way. We left on friendly terms and I’m just excited for a new challenge. I kind of got a little bit stale towards the end. I spent six years there and I played pretty much every game there when I was fit and I was ready for something new. When it was the summer, I was seeing the options and seeing what I could get my teeth stuck into and this is the one that stood out. We know the pressure that is going to be on us to go straight back up, from ourselves and from the outside. Derby is a massive club and I want to be a big part of that. I want to help this club to go straight back up and then see what we can do next year. The focus is fully on this year, so let’s see what we can do.
On His Position…
I prefer to play as a forward, mainly off either side. I’m comfortable off the right or left. I have played as a number nine, but I don’t particularly enjoy it when you’re up front on your own and you have two six foot four brutes baring down the back of you! I can play wing back but it’s not my favourite position. I like to get forward, get shots off and be in and around the box to create things and that’s hopefully what I can do.
On Pre-Season…
It is only four weeks today until we play our first game. I’ve done a bit of work with one of my mates back home where we’ve been keeping fit so I’m in good shape and ready to go on Monday for training. I will have to do a few sessions to catch up on the first week, which is usually the hardest week, but mentally and physically I’m ready to go and I’m looking forward to it.
