NEIL Harris said George Saville is “a great character” – but hasn’t denied that the midfielder could be on his way out of the club.
Middlesbrough, who had a bid for Saville rejected earlier this month, are determined to recruit him on loan in a deal that would become permanent in January.
Lions boss Harris admitted “it’s been a challenging few weeks” with interest in a number of Millwall players ahead of the closure of the transfer window at 5pm this Friday.
Saville missed Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Rotherham through a concussion that forced him off at half-time against Sheffield Wednesday last week.
Discussions over the transfer have taken place, and Saville did not train with the rest of Millwall’s first-team squad on Tuesday morning ahead of Wednesday’s second-round EFL Cup clash against Plymouth at The Den.
“There’s been continued interest in a lot of my players. It’s been a challenging few weeks for us as a changing room,” Harris said.
“George is one that has been linked with Boro a few times. There is an interest there, they do like the player.
“I feel I’ve got a 20/21-man squad, it’s a very tight squad. Anyone that leaves us then we have to replace. The transfer window shuts on Friday and it’s very difficult to get people in.
“We’ll only let anybody leave if we can get somebody in.
“George has been brilliant for me. He didn’t want to come off against Sheffield Wednesday. He’s a great character.
“Between now and Friday there’s going to be some twists and turns in the transfer window for us. Like I said, it’s been a very challenging period.”
A week after Millwall broke their transfer record to sign Tom Bradshaw, any deal for Saville would far exceed their transfer record fee received, £2.7million from Norwich for Steve Morison in 2011.
Millwall signed Saville from Wolves last summer and would make a significant profit on the player. Saville, 25, has played 67 times for Millwall across three spells with the club, and scored 10 goals.
Image: Millwall FC