Millwall FC transfer team deserve serious credit for unearthing £1.7m gem: View | OneFootball

The hierarchy at The Den deserve huge credit for the signing of Zian Flemming in 2022.

Millwall have had many players come and go from the football club in recent seasons, but not many have been as successful as Zian Flemming.

The Lions have recently established themselves as a Championship team, but before that, they were a side that bounced from League One and the second tier.

As well as the inconsistency in form, Millwall have never been a side that has had a lot of money to spend in transfer windows.

But in 2022, they changed that, as they spent a decent amount of money to secure the signing of Flemming, a player that not many English fans would have heard of before.

Millwall paid £1.7 million to sign Zian Flemming in 2022

Flemming started his football career with the Pancratius youth team before, in 2008, he went and joined Ajax’s youth set-up.

The attacker spent 10 years with the Dutch giants, as in 2018 he left to join PEC Zwolle, a team he stayed with for two years.

Flemming played 32 times for PEC Zwolle, and he scored just six goals in the process, but it was enough for Fortuna Sittard to sign the player in 2020.

This is where the 25-year-old hit some impressive form, as he scored 27 goals and recorded 11 assists in 63 appearances in all competitions.

He was still relatively unknown, but his two seasons with the Dutch side seemed to catch the eye of Millwall, who secured his signature in a deal reported to be worth £1.7 million.

The deal for Flemming is the club’s club record deal for a transfer, as it surpasses the transfer fee the Lions paid for Ryan Leonard, but the club’s transfer team deserves huge press for bringing Flemming to the club.

Millwall deserves huge credit for finding Zian Flemming

As referred to previously, Zian Flemming had never played in English football before he joined Millwall in 2022, as he spent all of his career in his homeland of the Netherlands.

There was an element of risk involved in signing Flemming, as him playing in just the Netherlands meant he wasn’t experienced in the Championship or had never experienced English football before.

Therefore, there was uncertainty about how he would handle the demands of the league, as the Championship is known to be ruthless.

But straight away, the 25-year-old became a hit in a Millwall shirt as he settled into the team under then manager Gary Rowett.

In his first season at the club, Flemming scored 15 goals and recorded three assists, as the attacker played in all but three Championship games.

He was averaging an impressive three shots a game, and given that he also missed five big chances that season, he could have easily had more goals to his name.

As well as the goals, Flemming was so good in the creative side of the game, as he created 10 big chances for his teammates and, in other circumstances, could have had more assists to his name too.

That 2022/23 campaign was a fantastic start to his career at The Den, and heading into the following season, there was high optimism that he could repeat the trick.

Unfortunately, the 2023/24 season was not as successful for Millwall or Flemming, as the Lions suffered in results and Flemming was unable to replicate the same type of form.

The Dutchman played in every league game, but he was only able to register seven goals and five assists, as his lack of attacking threat resulted in Millwall’s poor run in front of goal.

Despite the disappointment of that season, Millwall still secured an unbelievable signing, as Flemming has shown over two seasons how good he can be in scoring goals, creating chances, and just his all-round ability.

Millwall took a big risk paying the amount of money they did for a player that many fans may not have heard of, but for sure it has definitely worked out for the better, and whether he stays at the club or not, he has turned out to be a successful signing for the club and one they will remember for a while.