Millwall facing different transfer recruitment process this summer

Gary Rowett is ready for a different recruitment approach this summer – with the coronavirus pandemic affecting the way that all clubs do their business.

Millwall are only set for a three-week summer break before they gear up for the start of the new Championship season on September 12.

EFL and Premier League clubs are facing a majorly reduced amount of downtime due to the stop-start nature of the 2019-20 campaign.

Domestic football needs to be completed by early May as the European Championships – postponed from this summer – are due to take place.

Lions manager Rowett said: “I think there’s going to be a lot of video conferencing calls going on with everybody this summer that is going to make more sense.

“What has come out of this pandemic is that there are different ways to communicate with people or different ways to do your work – whether you think they are as effective is down to other people.

“We’ve had a couple of Zooms already – it’s a little bit strange but nevertheless it’s a way of doing it.

“I don’t think it’s ever going to replace those face-to-face meetings where you can look into someone’s eyes, see what they are thinking and get a gauge for their character. It’s not the same as taking them down to The Den and seeing where the ground is and what it’s all about.

“There will be a combination. Where we can socially distance and meet people we will do. Where we can’t we’ll have to do it a different way.

“I think we’re learning all the time the best ways of doing things.

“But nothing is strange anymore.

“Ironically when the games started – the first one against Derby – I just felt as though this felt so pointless. It felt so weird. But four or five games into it then it just feels normal. You don’t even notice that nobody is there. It shows how quickly you get used to something different.”