The 22-year-old fans set to submit a transfer request

Despite being integrated into the West Ham fold under Nuno Espírito Santo in the Portuguese boss’s first few months at the club, Freddie Potts seems out of favour at the London Stadium.

The 22-year-old returned to West Ham in the summer after a very successful loan spell at Portsmouth, where he became a fan’s favourite at Fratton Park and was a big part of the climb away from the relegation zone and into a 16th-placed finish last season.

Hammers fans clamoured for more of him under Graham Potter, and when he was sacked and replaced by Nuno Espírito Santo, he ended up starting 10 in 11 top-flight games between November and January.

Unfortunately, since being hooked at half time in that final start against Wolves, he’s started just twice more in league action, and a red card in their extra-time win over Burton Albion in the FA Cup fourth round plunged him further down the pecking order.

Football Insider has questioned whether Potts’ time as a first-teamer at West Ham is already over, and if it is, there would be a disorderly queue of Championship sides forming this coming summer to try and secure his services.

These three should be right at the front of that queue

After excelling in the Championship last season, there were plenty of West Ham fans hoping that they had a Premier League-ready midfielder on their hands. Unfortunately, that hasn’t materialised, but it doesn’t mean that the 22-year-old doesn’t still have the potential to become one.

Therefore, a team like Derby County, who will have aspirations in the coming seasons to become regulars in the play-off mix and ultimately find their way back to the top flight for the first time since 2007/08, should jump at the opportunity to bring him in.

The project at Pride Park under John Eustace took a massive step forward in the summer ahead of his first season in the dugout, with many high-profile names making the switch, such as Patrick Agyemang, Lewis Travis and Carlton Morris, to name just three.

That’s seen them transform from a team battling relegation to one on the fringes of the play-offs, and they’ll be looking to make a splash once again this coming summer to push them over the line.

Currently, the defensive midfield spot next to Travis is being occupied by Crystal Palace loanee David Ozoh, and while the 20-year-old is someone with big potential, Potts is better now and arguably has a similar ceiling.

Especially if the Palace man doesn’t sign permanently, Derby should be after Potts. But even if there’s the option to sign both of them, the West Ham man should be at the top of their list.

While Preston North End’s collapse from a side in the top six at the turn of the year to one sitting painfully in mid-table can’t all be attributed to Harrison Armstrong’s recall back to Everton, at least some part of it can.

We’ve seen this season what the presence of a tough-tackling defensive midfielder can bring to Paul Heckingbottom’s side, and after failing to replace him in the January transfer window, the onus will be on bringing in someone w ith that sort of profile