MILLWALL’S new head of recruitment appointment could open up routes to foreign markets for the Lions.
Former Birmingham head of scouting Harvey Bussell was confirmed as Alex Aldridge’s successor last week.
On his LinkedIn page, Bussell says he is “a football industry professional with extensive knowledge of players within various leagues across Europe”.
Brexit has complicated things for British clubs looking to sign players from EU countries. They will need a Governing Body Endorsement, with points awarded on a number of criteria, including the league the player played in, Champions League appearances and international caps.
In effect, it could limit EFL clubs’ scope to shop in the lower-ranked European leagues, such as Norway’s Eliteserien or 2. Bundesliga in Germany.
Millwall boss Gary Rowett says the Lions are looking for “value” in a number of leagues in this window.
“Harvey’s got a very, very good knowledge of European and global markets. That’s always somewhere we’d look for value,” Rowett said.
“But a club like Millwall, we have to make sure that the player has the right characteristics, that he doesn’t have to spend too long settling into the culture and the team. All of those factors come into play.
“It’s a market we look at regularly. We look at games in various parts of the world on the [scouting] system that we use.”
One deal that could be less complicated is the potential extension of Kenneth Zohore’s loan from West Brom.
Striker Zohore has only three more games in which to impress, but Rowett is leaning towards a decision to keep the player.
“The situation remains the same. We need to see his fitness and form in the team to have that conversation,” Rowett said.
“It might be that West Brom want him to stay with us, they might want him back – there are a multitude of factors.
“For us, it’s about whether he can stay fit for the next three games and have an impact, and we’ll then have a conversation and see where we are.
“The Ken Zohore at Preston, last weekend against Coventry for 20, 25 minutes, you saw how effective he can be. If he’s a fully fit player, of course we’d want to keep him.
“That’s not been the case so far and he’s been a little bit lucky. What we need to make sure is that any player we consider keeping can have an impact moving forward, not just the next few games.”
Image: @MillwallFC