‘He is going to be a top-class centre-half’ – Millwall loanee’s transfer future set to become clearer after Leeds’ D-day

Millwall loanee Charlie Cresswell’s future is set to come into sharper focus after Sunday with his parent club Leeds United facing D-day in the Premier League.

The Yorkshire giants have to beat Tottenham at Elland Road to stand any chance of leapfrogging Everton and avoiding Championship football next season.

If Leeds do fail to retain top-flight status then Cresswell’s prospects of featuring for his boyhood club look set to be boosted.

The 20-year-old, below, finished his temporary spell with the Lions strongly before a fractured eye socket, which required surgery, ended his campaign at the start of April.

Cresswell stayed in South London to support Millwall’s play-off push which was snuffed out by a 4-3 defeat to Blackburn on the final day.

“He is going to be a top centre-half and a top player – certainly in the second half of the season we saw that oozing out,” Rowett told the South London Press. “He was absolutely fantastic before his injury. He was a really big loss to us.

“It’s not fair for me to comment on other club’s position on their players but I would imagine if Leeds are in the Championship next season then he would have that experience and a chance of staking a claim for them.

“If Leeds are in the Premier League then I suppose they would have a conversation of which way they want to go – Charlie may be part of that or he may not. He has developed well and shown what he is about. Another strong season next year and he is not far away from being a Premier League player.

“We knew he was a big talent. He found the challenges of the Championship straight away – in that it’s not always easy to play the game in a certain way. You have to be able to adjust and learn some of the little nuances of it.

“I think he’d be the first one to admit that in the opening months of the season he had some tough moments in games but he performed really consistently throughout.

“He probably made better decisions as the season went on and some of those big moments didn’t happen in the second half of it – therefore you can focus on his really, really strong performances.”