‘The now will dictate the summer’ – Millwall loanee Callum Styles on his Barnsley future and settling in South London

Callum Styles is not thinking about his long-term future because he feels it won’t help him to make his Millwall loan move a roaring success.

The 22-year-old Hungarian international joined from Barnsley on September 2 and is due to spend the whole campaign in SE16.

Styles signed a new contract with the Tykes until the summer of 2025 before he was allowed to head to Millwall. But there is a release fee in those new terms.

The Bury-born player has made 17 Championship appearances for the Lions, eight of those starts. Asked by the South London Press if he had thought about where he could be playing beyond this campaign, Styles replied: “Not too much. You’ve kinda got to live in the moment.

“If you’re too concerned on that then you are not going to focus on the now. The now is going to dictate what happens in the summer. Obviously you have plans but that’s more for my agent, later in the season.

“You’ve got to be focused on the season, even though there aren’t many midweek games coming up for us.

“We’ve got a busy February so I need to get my head down, get these little niggles out the way, stay fit and make sure I am playing well.”

Styles is living in Canary Wharf and says his partner moving to the capital with him has helped with the bedding in process. He impressed in central midfield in the 3-0 win over Rotherham at the start of the month, partnering Billy Mitchell, but ended up leaving The Den wearing a protective boot after damaging his ankle.

Styles sat out the FA Cup loss to Sheffield United before returning last weekend at Middlesbrough.

“I’ve had little niggles before in my career but the longest I’ve been out is between four to six weeks,” he said. “Hopefully that’s the longest I ever have to do. I hate missing games with injury. I try and get back as quickly as I can. You’d be surprised, there are some players who don’t mind a little bit of a rest.”

Styles enjoys it most playing in the middle of the park but his versatility has seen him operate in multiple roles for Millwall.

“I’d like to stick to one position – but that’s not football,” he said. “As long as I’m playing, and it’s not too much of a mad change each week, then I’m happy.”