Millwall boss gives verdict on summer transfer window and decision to allow Zian Flemming to join Burnley

Millwall head coach Neil Harris reckons that the summer transfer window should close before the domestic season starts.

The Lions did business on deadline day as they splashed a club record £3million on Serbian striker Mihailo Ivanovic and added Middlesbrough frontman Josh Coburn on loan.

Millwall also allowed Zian Flemming to join Burnley on loan with an obligation to buy.

Asked for his assessment of the window, Harris told the South London Press: “In many ways, I’m really pleased that the transfer window is shut because I, like every manager in the Premier League and Football League, doesn’t understand why the transfer window doesn’t shut before the season starts.

“It was really interesting to read someone like (Sheffield United boss) Chris Wilder’s quotes during the week and him talking about the transfer window and the effect it has on a football club. Chris is one of the senior figures in the manager fold who I really like listening to and respect his comments.

“He articulated it really well. It’s really difficult for football clubs to plan for the future – for players and also coaching staff – because why do you have the whole of May, June and July before the season starts, and you can’t close the window before? That’s something that needs to change in the game.

“I would like to see the football authorities do something about it and make a strong decision to realise it’s about football and not anything off the pitch.

“The window, for us, the three months dwarfed into a 48-hour period where one minute there was a deal on and the next minute it was off. Then it culminates in the last three hours with Zian moving and Mihailo came in.

“That was a stressful period for everybody involved. I was certainly delighted that once we got to The Den last Saturday against Sheffield Wednesday there was clarity in everything in our changing room.”

Flemming was a £1.7m signing from Fortuna Sittard in 2022. Burnley will pay in the region of £7m if the deal becomes permanent.

Millwall did have an option to extend his terms by a further 12 months, until June 2026, but that would have seen an increase in his salary.

Asked if he understood the decision to allow the 26-year-old to leave, Harris said: “I do, because Jimmy (Berylson, owner) has been very clear with the thought process that, as a business model, we need to progress as a football club.

“If we want to progress and try to compete with the top 10 to 15 clubs in this division then we have to find a way of creating more revenue and not rely on a sole investor just to put family money into a business.

“We have to look at a model where we can bring through our own players to represent the football club or for selling.

“We also have to look to trade and to be brave with buying players to develop them and sell them as well at the right price.

Zian falls into that category where he has come in from abroad and he wasn’t very well known over here.

“He had a very good first season and a strong second season. I really enjoyed working with him. Arguably he was one of our most talented players, so to lose him is disappointing from a manager’s perspective, but also I understand from a business perspective that it’s modern-day football.

“I fully support the club’s decision in that. The manner of losing him a few hours before the window shut was difficult for all of us.

“If we struggle with injuries during the next four months, that’s something we’ll have to get through and make sure we make good decisions regarding players at the top end of the pitch.”

PICTURES: BRIAN TONKS