Cocu: “Huddlestone Has Been A Very Important Player For Derby County”

Phillip Cocu says the door remains open for Tom Huddlestone to continue to train with Derby County despite his contract expiring at the end of June.

It was confirmed last week that talks had been ongoing in recent weeks between the club and representatives of Huddlestone.

Neither a temporary nor a permanent agreement could be reached to extend his contract beyond the end of June.

Given Huddlestone’s long-standing history with Derby and his contribution both on and off the pitch, the club continues to remain in dialogue with the player and his representatives with the hope of coming to an agreement for him to remain with the club longer-term.

Huddlestone, who began his career with Derby before returning for a second spell in 2017 from Hull City, has been invited to continue to train with Cocu’s squad.

The 33-year-old recorded has 185 appearances across his two spells with the club, scoring three times.

Cocu was keen to praise the midfielder’s contribution to the club, both during his time in charge of the Rams and throughout his career.

“For this month, he didn’t sign the contract to play in July,” Cocu told RamsTV after Derby’s 1-0 win at Preston North End on Wednesday.

“He still will be more than welcome to train with us.

“I have spoken briefly with him and he is a great person, a great character with a huge career and he has been a very important player for Derby County.

“He can still train with us and you never know, but if he makes the decision to find another project then of course we respect his choice.

“The door is open for him to still be part of the team in the training sessions.”

Huddlestone, who after coming through Derby’s youth ranks has amassed over 500 appearances and club football and played for England, appeared 12 times during the 2019/20 season for Derby and scored once.