Millwall not close to deal for Hibernian defender – with Scottish press reporting interest in January deal

Hibernian defender Ryan Porteous is on a list of defensive targets for Millwall – but the Championship side are not close to a deal.

The Lions’ interest in the 21-year-old centre-back was reported by the Scottish press earlier this week.

Millwall are looking at a variety of different defensive options, with that position now a priority after landing midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld from Birmingham City yesterday.

The Daily Record claim that Porteous is one of the top young defenders in Scottish football and that any transfer hinges on whether Hibs are prepared to cash in on one of their prize assets.

The paper also reports that the youngster still has two years to run on his contract with the Easter Road outfit.

Porteous has made 24 appearances in the Scottish Premiership this season. In total he has clocked up 76 games for Hibs and scored six times as well as winning 14 caps at U21 level for Scotland.

Millwall have seen their defensive options depleted with Murray Wallace recovering from a broken foot. Central midfielder Ryan Leonard played on the right of their back three in last Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Huddersfield Town.

Lions manager Gary Rowett told our paper this week that the Championship side were looking to add younger talent to their squad.

He said: “I think we’ve made three bids for different young players – we are trying to bring some younger players into the group,. The group is not as mobile and young as we’d like for the long term.

“It is not about us as a club not paying enough money – no-one wants to sell young players. People need bigger squads for covid reasons in case they get three or four cases. There are more games in a closer period of time. People don’t want to let players out. Clubs are not spending money – they don’t want to let players go if they can’t get players in.”