BROOKE NORTON-CUFFY was left feeling like he couldn’t turn Millwall down after an in-depth presentation by the club’s coaching team.
The 19-year-old, who has signed on loan from Arsenal, became hot property in the Championship last season after dazzling at Rotherham United and Coventry City.
But any teams in pursuit of the wing-back for this campaign were blown out of the water after the Lions made clear how much intricate research they had put into the star.
The passion of Millwall’s fanbase also had a part to play in convincing the teenager that The Den was the place for him this season.
Norton-Cuffy told NewsAtDen: “The project that they have going on here, last season and the season before that, they’ve really been pushing. I spoke to the coaching staff and they put up a diagram for me of my game and where they thought I could improve. And once I saw that, I said: ‘I can’t really turn this down’.
“I feel like my development plans here have clear goals and things I have to do and achieve.
“When I go on loan, I look at it as: I want to win as many games as possible, firstly. I want to help the team to achieve as much as possible. And then I have to look at my own development as well as I want to be the best player I can be.
“The sports science team [at Arsenal] spoke to their sports science team and saw the attributes in my game and they wanted to take it even further as well and that was big for me.
“Also the fans had a big part to play. It’s never nice as an away game coming to The Den. Fans are always loud, fans are always noisy. So with them on my side this time, it was a no-brainer really.
“I feel like this decision to come to Millwall was a good one, so I’m happy.”
Lions boss Gary Rowett wasn’t done with Norton-Cuffy and signed his seventh and eighth players on transfer deadline day.
Both coming in on loan, Ryan Longman from Hull and Allan Campbell from Luton made their debuts as substitutes in the 1-1 draw at Birmingham.
Norton-Cuffy made his second appearance in that game at St Andrew’s – having debuted against Stoke a week earlier – and Rowett has been pleased with his contributions so far.