Gary Rowett shares insight into what immediate future could look like for Millwall defender | OneFootball

Gary Rowett remains undecided about what the immediate future could look like for young Millwall defender Besart Topalloj, as stated whilst in conversation with News at Den.

The 21-year-old played an integral enough ole during pre-season with the Lions and has featured on the bench in matches against Cambridge United and Sheffield United so far this season.

Topalloj was also close to the first-team set up on occasions last time out, appearing on the bench in three competitive matches for the Lions.

Sharing his thoughts on Topalloj and what the immediate future might look like for him, Gary Rowett said: “The plan for any young player is that they have to play games to develop, that’s simple.

“From a club perspective, we obviously have to keep the squad sufficient enough that we can compete in the Championship, so we’re balancing off those two things.

“For any of those players, there’s not a closed answer or an open answer. It depends on what loans are available, on the situation with the squad and the timing of everything. Then we’ll assess that as we go.

The hardest Millwall quiz on the internet – Can you score 24/24?

1 of 24

Who did Millwall start this season against?

Sheffield United Stoke City Sunderland Southampton

“Bes has done really well in training, he did really well in pre-season games. We’ve only really got Muzza [Wallace] and Scotty [Malone], apart from Coops [Cooper] as well who’s been playing in the middle, that can play down that left side.

“At the moment, he’s an option for us, but we’ll assess that as we go along. They’re all good youngsters, they’ve all got really good futures in the game and we have to make decisions for the squad and for those players’ individual development.”

The verdict

It would appear that the young defender’s situation is one that the club will be monitoring right up until the closing stages of this summer transfer window.

Highly rated enough to be in and around the first-team squad at Millwall, the 21-year-old is certainly making exciting progress.

A loan move could be the perfect next step for Topalloj, if it is expected that he will not play many minutes in the first team this season.

Should Millwall share that stance come the end of the window, it will be interesting to see what level he will end up at and whether he could go on to see regular minutes.