Gary Rowett makes Mahlon Romeo admission after Millwall defender makes loan move to Portsmouth

Gary Rowett has described Mahlon Romeo as a “fabulous” signing for Portsmouth – and admits he wouldn’t have expected the League One club to land him at the start of the summer.

Romeo joined Pompey on transfer deadline day for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign.

The right-back, 25, has played 221 matches for the Lions – 148 of those at Championship level.

“It is a fabulous signing for Portsmouth,” Rowett told the South London Press. “At the start of the window I wouldn’t have anticipated them getting someone like Mahlon, and they spoke publicly about that.

“As the window went on I just felt as though Mahlon was really, really keen to play regular football. We have got players who can play there. Danny McNamara has done so well and it is one of the reasons we allowed the deal to happen. But also the likes of Billy Mitchell and Lenny [Ryan Leonard] have been excellent when they have played there.

“We felt as though we could allow it to happen.

“You never want to lose a good player like Mahlon, but we just felt the time was right for him to go and play regular football. He was quite clear what he wanted to do.

“He goes with our best wishes. From Portsmouth’s perspective they got a player they might not have been able to get in this window.”