Millwall are trying to be proactive in transfer market – Gary Rowett discusses difficulties of trying to add to squad
BY ALEX GRACE
Gary Rowett has refused to comment directly on specific transfer targets but admitted Millwall are working hard to bring in reinforcements to their squad.
The Lions have been linked with a move for Birmingham’s Maikel Kieftenbeld.
“What I will say is the club over this transfer window have tried to be really proactive,” said Millwall manager Rowett. “We put two or three good bids out for young players at clubs but unfortunately I think due to the pandemic those clubs can’t replace the players they’ve got and therefore because the market is fairly stagnant there’s not a lot happening.
“People don’t want to let players go, so it’s a difficult one. It’s a window where we are probably showing our most ambition but it’s very difficult to get things done. We have to be patient and we have to accept that I don’t think there’s going to be much business done this month. We are one of the few teams that are really, really, trying proactively to do it.
“Are the club trying to show ambition? Absolutely. I spoke to John [Berylson, owner] about it, he said: ‘If there’s players out there we can get that can make us better long term and short term then go and do everything you can to get them’. So John’s really trying to back us in this window. The challenge is not a lot of clubs are doing much business, therefore they are not going to want to let players out that can help them. In most windows there’s a lot of movement, there’s a lot of players who would be available but there’s a lot of clubs saying: ‘I’m not letting anyone go because we can’t replace them’.
“The challenge is the frequency of games, they know also they need to hold bigger squads because you’ve got games that are coming quicker and faster, plus you know you could maybe be without three or four players due to coronavirus at any time so that’s making the market harder. We will keep trying. We might not be able to do what we want but we are trying to bring the players we want in.”
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