Millwall summer departure likely as Championship clubs line up transfer | OneFootball

Millwall's Republic of Ireland U21 international Aidomo Emakhu is likely to spend next season on loan away from South Bermondsey, per the Irish Mirror.

The 20-year-old featured 21 times in the second tier for the Lions last season, scoring one goal and registering one assist.

Emakhu was signed by Millwall from Shamrock Rovers back in December 2022, and officially became a Lions player on 1 January 2023, arriving as an exciting young prospect who'd shown flashes of real potential in Ireland.

As a mark of the club's confidence in the player he could develop into, Millwall handed Emakhu a new long-term contract last December, under then head coach Joe Edwards.

But it appears current Millwall bos Neil Harris doesn't see the youngster featuring in his immediate plans, with a temporary switch now appearing to be on the cards over the coming weeks.

Aidomo Emakhu set to secure loan move away from Millwall

According to a report in the Irish Mirror, Emakhu is likely to be playing his football with a different club next season, as Millwall look to provide their youngster with more regular minutes in the second tier next year.

The report states that Millwall chiefs are debating whether to send the Clondalkin-born forward out on loan next season, that is after they received "a stack of enquiries" for the attacker.

It's stated in the report that interest has arrived in Emakhu from some of Millwall's Championship rivals for next season, as well as teams competing in League One and also north of the border in the Scottish Premiership.

Emakhu has recently played in two friendlies for Ireland's U21 side against Croatia and England respectively, which saw him score during a 3-2 win over the Croatians.

It is expected that he will report back for pre-season training with Millwall on 26 June, and a decision regarding where he'll be playing his football next season will take place shortly after that.

Aidomo Emakhu needs regular game-time to thrive at Millwall in the future

Minutes on the pitch are vital for any footballer, but they're especially important for a young player who is trying to find his feet in the game.

So, despite featuring 21 times in the Championship for Millwall last term, only six of those were starts, meaning the majority of his opportunities to impress came in the form of brief cameos.

It can be extremely difficult to make a big enough impression when being handed small glimpses of the action such as that, and Emakhu will be desperate to see more of his chances come from the first whistle next year.

Therefore, a loan move to perhaps a newly promoted Championship side, or even a top-half League One side could be precisely what is required at this stage of his career.

After all, Millwall do have some strong attacking options in his favoured positions, with Zian Flemming still at the club despite reported interest from newly promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town not yet materialising into anything concrete.

Tom Bradshaw, Kevin Nisbet, Romain Esse and Duncan Watmore are all vying for competition in forward areas too, and that's before the Lions potentially dip into the market and make some further additions in the attacking department.

So a temporary switch for Emakhu should be seen as one that suits both parties, as the promising young forward can go and seek more consistent minutes in the senior game, and could return to The Den a better player, and one that is ready to take a starting role at the club in 2025.