‘I haven’t had that conversation yet’ – Millwall boss on midfielder’s contract situation
Millwall manager Gary Rowett is yet to speak to Maikel Kieftenbeld over his long-term playing future.
The Netherlands midfielder, who turns 32 towards the end of June, is due to be a free agent this summer.
Kieftenbeld has played the full 90 minutes in their last five league games, particularly impressing against Cardiff and QPR..
Asked if the former Birmingham and FC Groningen player had indicated his preference beyond this season, Rowett replied: “I haven’t had that conversation. Sometimes when players get a little bit older you have to naturally wait for those contract negotiations.
“I don’t think you can just dive in and start offering long contracts – I don’t think the club would want to do that. But I’ll certainly have those conversations as the season progresses.
“For any player it is about playing as well as you can to give yourself the best possible options – then it’s your choice, as a player.
“I think Maikel enjoys it here and I think he enjoys London. He’s a good player.
“Maikel was in the side at the start of the season and, for different reasons, we changed from 5-3-2 to 5-2-3. It meant we didn’t need to start all of those midfielders who had been in the side. He came out the side for a little bit but he has trained brilliantly. His attitude and character means he does all the right things.
“His reward is that he gets another opportunity and he has done well.
“If he is playing to this level and his form is like this throughout the season then of course you’d like to keep a player like that. But, at the same time, we know there is quite a lot of change at the end of the season.
“We’ve always tried to be fair. Bradders [Tom Bradshaw] was scoring goals and playing really well – at some point you recognise you have to sit down and reward that player. But for most you want to leave it later to make sure you’re making a good decision based over a longer period of time.
“He is a player who has done really well for me in the past and in the present. He’s a player I trust to go out and do what I want to do.”
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