MillwallSport

‘It was always the plan if we sold Romain Esse’ – Millwall head coach on signing flurry

Millwall head coach Alex Neil has talked about it always being the plan to be busy in the January transfer window if they sold Romain Esse.

The Lions have moved to strengthen their squad after the England U20 international’s £14.5million switch to Crystal Palace.

Millwall broke their own transfer record on Friday night with the addition of Sparta Rotterdam winger Camiel Neghli.

The Algerian was brought on to The Den pitch before today’s 2-1 win for the Lions over QPR.

“This was always the plan,” said Neil. “People are acting like they are surprised. Everybody I talk to seems to say ‘what is going on’.

“The plan when I came in was that if someone was going to come in and buy Romain then we were going to try and invest in some younger players, try to develop the style and try to make us more threatening and try to score more goals – as well as trying to bring some young lads in and try to create some assets.

“The plan was always there. It’s just at the moment that the plan is working really quite well. I’m not daft, I know in two weeks it might not be working quite so well because that is the nature of football and this league.

“We are going to certainly enjoy it when we’re doing what we’re doing. The lads deserve huge amounts of credit, as does the club for wanting to invest and improve the squad.

“I would think being a Millwall fan right now is quite exciting.”

Asked about how much of a role he played in Neghli putting pen to paper, the Scot smiled and gestured it was a small amount.

“It is a collective thing – it always is,” said Neil. “People worry about these things too much in terms of ‘who makes the signings – is it the manager, is it the recruitment team or the director of football?’ It’s never one person…ever…that I’ve ever been at.

“When the player comes in we support them and give them the platform they hopefully deserve if they train well and play well. It is never one person who makes any decision at a club. Everybody is behind it and we’re hopefully pushing in the one direction – all together, positively, and we’ll see where we go.”

Asked about Neghli’s attributes, Neil said: “He can play inside the pitch or outside the pitch. He can play wide if you want him to or in the pocket. Technically he is very good. He can score a goal. He’s creative.

“He can move with the ball and hold on to the ball, he’s not too disimilar to Aaron Connolly that he can dribble with it and draw people towards him He can pick a pass out. What we do need to remember is to give him time.

“He has come from a different league and different culture and country. Sometimes when you do that you do need to have a little bit of time to settle. I can speak from experience, just coming from Preston to London. I’m still in an Airbnb at the moment and living out my suitcase. Those elements matter – particularly when you’re a player. Less so for me, because I can sort of do my work wherever.”

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