Derby County fans evoked feelings of sadness when Louie Sibley chose to move on from his boyhood club during the summer.
Sibley was an important part of the furniture at Derby, joining as a nine-year-old in 2010 before becoming a first-team regular at Pride Park alongside Eiran Cashin.
Breaking onto the scene as a teenager during the 2019/20 campaign, Sibley had the footballing world at his feet, destroying Championship defences as an attacking midfielder.
The Englishman scored five times in 11 appearances in that season but failed to uphold such a standard as he saw his career experience somewhat of a downward spiral.
Last term, the 23-year-old moved into more of a left wing-back role for Derby, playing 42 times in League One on their way to promotion but Sibley chose to leave the Rams as he wanted to return to his central midfield role, something that wasn’t promised by Paul Warne.
Louie Sibley on the ‘strange feeling’ of playing Derby County
Sibley was offered a new contract at Derby but decided against signing one and was instead captured by Oxford United.
Although he arrived at the U’s with the fresh hope of becoming a key player under Des Buckingham, he’s only totalled 64 minutes of Championship action, despite netting the equaliser against Portsmouth.
Sibley has come off the bench on four occasions, though, and could play against some of his former teammates when the two sides meet on Tuesday night.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 11 |  Oxford UnitedOxford United | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 13 |
| 12 |  DerbyDerby | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
Speaking ahead of the clash, Sibley has described how ‘strange’ it will feel to come against the side he spent 14 years at.
“It’s a big game for the club but for myself, I’d been at the club since a kid so I’ve got a lot of memories there and good friends,” the midfielder told Oxford’s official website.
“So it will feel very strange to share a pitch with my close mates, normally playing with but obviously against, it will feel really weird. But like I said, it’s important to get the job done first and I’ll treat it like another game really.”
Derby were right to offload Louie Sibley
Warne overhauled his Derby squad in the summer, particularly in midfield, where he signed Kenzo Goudmijn, Ebou Adams, Ben Osborn and David Ozoh.
With Sibley wanting to play in attacking midfield as opposed to left-back, it’s become clear now that the Englishman wouldn’t get in over any of the current options.
Also, given the form of Callum Elder at left-back – despite his recent injury – there were no guarantees he’d have started over the Australian or Craig Forsyth.
Ultimately, it was the correct decision to move Sibley on and the fact he’s been used as a squad player at Oxford proves that point.