Millwall’s head of recruitment Alex Aldridge makes Stoke City switch

Alex Aldridge has left his role as Millwall’s head of recruitment to take up the same role at Stoke City.

The 27-year-old initially joined the Lions’ set-up as recruitment officer in May 2015.

Aldridge was appointed to lead the department in July 2017.

Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes said: “We advertised the role two to three months ago and we received in the region of 80 applicants. Alex was the stand out candidate and we’re delighted to bring him into the club.”

Aldridge became the youngest head of recruitment when he took on the job at the Lions at the age of 24.

Speaking to our paper in 2017, he said: “My role is to know the market inside-out, so that we are aware of every opportunity and constantly monitoring availability of targets.

“I’m generally the first port of call for agents – it’s not realistic for the manager to be on the phone constantly or out and about having meetings as well as managing the team. We have also tried to build up relationships with other clubs – like Liverpool, Manchester City, Everton, Southampton and Arsenal – in the event we want loan players.”

Millwall issued a statement this morning: “The club would like to place on record its gratitude to Aldridge for his efforts throughout his time with Millwall and everyone at the Lions wishes him well for the future.

Millwall have already completed loan deals for Tottenham striker Troy Parrott and Stoke midfielder Ryan Woods – and have the nucleus of their squad already in place.

The Lions are still set to bring in another couple of attacking players.