The lowdown on new Millwall signing Zian Flemming – Lions break their transfer fee for Dutch attacker

Zian Flemming has completed his move to Millwall from Fortuna Sittard.

The 23-year-old Amsterdam attacker was confirmed as the Lions’ first piece of incoming transfer business this summer at 9am today.

So what do we know about Flemming?

IT’S A RECORD FEE FOR THE LIONS

Millwall’s deal for Flemming is a £1.7million deal, making it a number club record. That trumps the £1.5m paid for Ryan Leonard, who initially joined the South London club on loan in August 2018 before the transfer became permanent in January. Millwall’s biggest transfer outlay amazingly had remained Paul Goddard’s £800,000 switch in 1989 until Leonard and Tom Bradshaw both made permanent moves at the start of 2019 for seven-figure sums.

IRON LION ZIAN

Millwall have a policy of not announcing contract lengths, but Dutch media reports claim that Flemming has signed a three-year contract. They went early with it being a ‘done deal’ yesterday, even though Flemming still had to complete his medical and other paperwork had yet to be signed off.

LONG TERM TARGET

The Lions have had Flemming on their list of targets for 18 months and pushed for a deal last season, only for Fortuna Sittard to not be keen to part with him in January as they were still struggling to avoid relegation in the Eredivisie. He scored 27 goals in 63 appearances for them and got 11 assists.

WHAT’S HIS BACKGROUND?

Started off in Ajax’s academy set-up and played for their U19 and U21 teams. Signed for PEC Zwolle in July 2018 and netted six times in 32 matches – four of those coming in one match, a 5-2 win over De Graafschap. Scored 13 goals to finish top scorer for NEC Nijmegen during a season-long loan in the 2019-20 season. Flemming signed a four-year contract with Fortuna in August 2020.

REACTION TO THE DEAL

Zian Flemming: “It’s a big move in my career for me to join Millwall and move to England, the home of football. The first thing you do when a club shows interest is to find out a little bit more about them. Everyone knows about Millwall and how passionate the fans are, and to start with a home game is perfect – if we win, of course. A main aspect of why I chose to join Millwall was the interest shown by Gary Rowett. They wanted to bring me in last summer and also last winter, but neither time worked out. However, he came again this summer, showing that they really wanted me. It’s a nice place for me to have the chance to show myself in England, and outside of the Netherlands.”

Gary Rowett: “Zian is a player who I’ve been tracking for a couple of years and I wanted to sign him in the last window. He’s got so much quality. I’m really excited about this signing. He’s young, hungry and has scored goals over in Holland – all types of goals as well. I think that’s the exciting bit for me. He’s something a bit different for us, so we’re looking forward to him coming to Millwall and seeing if he can help us towards the next level.”