Millwall have adopted an increasingly adventurous and progressive transfer recruitment strategy in recent times, which is paying dividends for the Lions as they continue to punch firmly above their weight from a financial perspective.
In contrast to many divisional peers within the top-half of the Championship, Millwall are not bankrolled by an owner with outstandingly deep pockets, nor do they have the luxury of being in receipt of the Premier League’s mandated, and lucrative, three-year parachute payments package.
But that’s not to say the East London outfit have not begun to splash the cash a bit more in recent times, a development which has come in line with their increasing inclination to explore overseas markets as opposed to solely competing in the common, often-inflated domestic shopping aisle.
Granted, all the club’s six summer acquisitions to date have been sourced domestically, though the likes of Casper de Norre, Zian Flemming and Mihailo Ivanovic – signed from OH Leuven, Fortuna Sittard and Vojvodina respectively – point to a fresher and more open-minded recruitment policy.
Flemming, of course, proved an astute signing by scoring 23 times from 92 appearances before earning a move to Burnley, helping the Clarets to gain promotion to the Premier League last season, while there is much excitement surrounding Ivanovic, who, aged just 20, struck on 12 occasions during his debut campaign at The Den and is poised to enjoy an even greater campaign infront of goal this time around.
The Lions are yet to see quite the same return on their investment with their most recent overseas recruit, Camiel Neghli, but the indications from the Dutch-born former Algerian youth international’s small sample size are extremely promising.
Camiel Neghli’s Millwall career to date
Millwall turned heads during the January transfer window by breaking their transfer record to secure Neghli’s services from Sparta Rotterdam in a deal which usurped the previous-record £2.8 million outlay shelled out for the aforementioned Ivanovic just months earlier.
Josh Coburn, who impressed on loan last season, is now the club’s record signing after being signed permanently from Championship rivals Middlesbrough.
Though an unknown quantity on English shores upon his arrival, Neghli was signed with an encouraging reputation after recording 10 goals from 47 Eredivisie appearances.
The winger, who can also operate as a number 10, impressed on his debut in a shock 2-0 FA Cup fourth-round victory away at rivals Leeds United and featured sporadically in the Championship before suffering an ankle injury during the trip across London to Crystal Palace in the next round.
That knockback kept the 23-year-old on the sidelines for the next month, and he made his comeback to score the only goal in a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough on April 12 after coming on as a substitute.
But disaster struck when, just 14 minutes after finding the back of the net, Neghli went down with a hamstring injury which would end his season.
Having finished just two points and two places shy of a play-off spot in eighth position, Millwall may just wonder what could have been achieved with a clean bill of health for Neghli. However, the talented wide-man returned to full fitness in the summer and made an instant impact by scoring the opening goal in his side’s eventual 2-1 win against Norwich City over the weekend.
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