£5k-a-week Millwall FC star tipped for Den exit | OneFootball

Nisbet could be on his way out of The Den ahead of next season - he has been a hit in the Scottish Premiership

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

FLW's Millwall fan pundit has predicted on-loan striker Kevin Nisbet to leave The Den permanently this summer following his impressive exploits in his spell at Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen this season.

The Lions are still in with a chance of finishing in the Championship play-offs on the final day of the season this weekend, so their summer transfer plans are likely on the back-burner until their campaign is over, which could be in another month if things go their way.

With that said, the future of Scotland international Nisbet is certainly up in the air, and it needs to be sorted out in the months to come following a decent spell at Aberdeen, who are currently chasing a place in the top three of the Scottish Premiership and the Europa League place that comes with it.

Millwall fan pundit makes Kevin Nisbet summer sale prediction - he has been a poor recruit

Nisbet moved to the Lions on a three-year deal worth over £2 million in June 2023, after three years with Hibernian in which he scored 39 goals in 101 appearances and became a full Scotland international.

After struggling to make a real impact and netting just five goals in 29 games for Millwall in his maiden campaign at The Den, the £5k-a-week star was dropped from Neil Harris' squad for the final league game of last season against Swansea City, with the hard-line Lions boss citing disciplinary issues as the reason for his omission.

From that point onwards, it seemed unlikely that he would feature in the club's plans going forward, and so he moved back to Scotland to join Aberdeen on a season-long loan late in the summer window.

It took little time for the 28-year-old to find his shooting boots at Pittodrie, as he netted his first strike for the club in just his second appearance against Ross County. He has gone on to register 13 goals and five assists in 33 appearances throughout this campaign, and recently scored a fantastic winner against his former club Hibs to give the Dons a real chance of finishing in the top three behind Celtic and Rangers.

Nisbet may well be a man in-form north of the border, but it remains to be seen where his future lies beyond this term as he returns to south-east London for pre-season in the summer.

FLW's Millwall fan pundit, Lucas Ball, believes that he could still be a decent player for the Lions in the Championship, depending on his relationship with current boss and compatriot Alex Neil, but he does think the club will look to sell him ahead of next season due to their decent striker options as it stands.

“Kevin Nisbet is a bit of a tricky one. Last season he actually did okay in spells, and looked like a natural finisher, which is what we had been missing for a while," Lucas told FLW.

“But then he didn’t seem to be showing the same levels in terms of his pressing, in terms of his link-up play, which someone like Tom Bradshaw gives you.

“I think Neil Harris ended up going back to Bradshaw when he was fit, and Nisbet became more of an impact player.

“Nisbet then had a few disciplinary issues towards the end of the season, and Harris is not the sort of manager that is going to be too forgiving of that kind of thing, so he missed out on the last matchday squad of the season.

“He came back in for pre-season, and there were murmurs from very early on that he wanted to go back up north to Scotland. The loan deal ended up happening, and Aberdeen sound like they’ve been really impressed with him.

“He’s had a decent time up there. He’s scored a variety of goals, from some of the clips I’ve seen on social media.

“I think with Mihailo Ivanovic in such good form, he is not going to come back and be the number one striker, obviously we want to bring Josh Coburn in on a permanent deal as well, in the summer, if we can.

“You’ve got Ajay Matthews doing well in the under-21’s, Zak Lovelace will soon be back fit, so it gives you a lot of attacking options if someone like Nisbet comes back into the fold as well.

“I think we will probably look to sell him in the summer, but, then, Alex Neil is obviously Scottish himself as well.

“I’m sure there will probably be conversations happening now, but more so when the season finishes, as to what Nisbet wants to do, and whether Neil potentially sees him as part of his plans moving forward.

“I think at times he looked like he could have been a good recruit, but probably overall, he has been one of the poorer ones in recent years for the actual amount of money that we spent on him. It was quite a big fee for us at the time.”

Nisbet is unsure what his future holds - Millwall have a decision to make this summer

Nisbet clearly knows where the back of the net is, but things have simply not worked out for him so far at Millwall for one reason or another. It can be tough to adjust to new surroundings for the first time, like he had to when he initially joined the club, and he also went from being the main man at Hibs to a rotational forward under Harris.

A lot has changed at The Den in the nine months that he has been away, not least the head-coach, with Harris gone and Scotsman Neil now in his place. The ex-Stoke City boss could hand Nisbet a Lions reprieve ahead of next season, but for now, the 11-time Scotland international is still in the dark about what could happen following the conclusion of this campaign.

“I think for me, it’s just about finishing the season well,” the 28-year-old recently told Football Scotland.

“Try to get Aberdeen to finish as high as possible and try to win the cup as well. I’m not really focused at all on next season. I’ll deal with that when it comes.

“You never know what the future holds. Right now I’m just focused on Aberdeen and getting three points.”

He has certainly helped Aberdeen this season, especially in recent weeks, with Jimmy Thelin's side set to take on Celtic in the Scottish Cup final later this month as they aim to win the competition for the first time since 1990. Nisbet has scored twice in their four cup games to help them get to the final.

The 28-year-old has just a year left on his Millwall contract as it stands, so it certainly seems likely that they look to sell him ahead of next season in order to fetch a fee for his services before he could potentially leave for free from next January.

There are plenty of factors that could come into play between now and a possible sale though, particularly the Lions' own Championship fate, as they look to achieve an unlikely top-six finish this weekend with a win against Burnley.