"The club still regrets to this day" - Millwall FC, Zian Flemming 2023 transfer decision criticised | OneFootball

FLW's Lions' fan pundit believes that the club could regret their decision to keep Zian Flemming around for another season last year

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...

Millwall's decision not to sell Zian Flemming for a sizeable fee last year has been identified as one that the club may regret in the wake of his departure to Burnley this summer.

The attacking midfielder joined the Lions in the summer of 2022 from Eredivisie side Fortuna Sittard on a three-year contract for a fee of £1.7m, rising to £2.5m, and greatly impressed in his first campaign in English football under Gary Rowett.

Flemming picked up the club's Player of the Season award for his performances in the 2022/23 season, and they finished just a point outside of the play-off places with the help of his stellar form.

That outstanding season saw him attract transfer attention from then Premier League new boys Burnley last summer, but he stayed at The Den for the 2023/24 campaign and failed to have the same impact last season as the Lions' performances dropped off, and they were guided to survival by Neil Harris.

The Clarets reignited their interest in the Dutchman this summer, and he made the move to Turf Moor late on in the transfer window on loan, with a reported £7m obligation-to-buy, but new claims from former boss Rowett mean that the Lions may now rue their decision not to let him leave last year.

Fan pundit identifies Millwall's Zian Flemming decision as a possible regret

Speaking on Sky Sports recently about the club's transfer business when he was in charge, Rowett revealed that there were numerous times they had "an offer for Zian (Flemming) for around £11 million last summer," but the owners did not want to sell him at that time.

As a result, FLW's resident Millwall fan pundit, Chris Chapman, of the Chat With Chaps YouTube channel, believes that the Lions' chiefs will now regret that decision, given the lesser fee that Burnley are due to pay when his loan turns into a permanent deal.

He said: “Not selling Zian Flemming last summer is something that I think the club still regrets to this day.

“We turned down bids, I think Gary Rowett said on Sky, of I think between £11m and £13m, and we’ve just sold him for £7m plus add-ons.

“That decision has potentially cost us, depending on what the add-ons are, three, four, five, six million pounds.

“That is something for sure that I think the club will look at and regret.

“Having said that, arguably he helped to keep us up last season, but he didn’t really perform to anywhere near his levels and ability.

“Maybe we should have cashed in last summer and rebuilt the squad using the money."

Flemming's drop-off was apparent in his second season

It was a big deal for Millwall to splash the cash on Flemming, a player unproven in English football but with an impressive record in the Netherlands, and his first season in South London proved that they were right to fork out a club-record deal to bring him in from overseas.

Flemming got off to a slow start with no goal contributions in the first 10 games of the season, but he soon got to grips with the Championship and netted five goals in five games in September and October, then bagged a hat-trick at Preston as Rowett's side ascended to the play-off places.

He registered seven more goals and three assists throughout the rest of the campaign, including winners against Stoke City and Blackpool, as his standout exploits saw him pick up the Lions Player of the Season award, but his influence on the team began to lessen in 2023/24 after the club had seemingly refused to let him leave for the Premier League.

While statistics don't always tell the full story, the 26-year-old's drop-off is pretty clear to see when his records over the two seasons are compared, as he managed to register seven goals and five assists across 46 appearances in the Championship last season, which is still a decent return for a player in a struggling Millwall side, but a big reduction from his previous campaign.

Flemming also went through long spells of poor form, with no goals or assists in 12 games between November and January, and then just one assist from his last 11 outings of the campaign, so it is understandable as to why the Lions were happy to let him leave this summer.

Despite the decent prospective fee that they are set to receive at the end of the season, they could seemingly have made a good bit more from the Dutchman if they had parted with him last year, and while it is easier to say in hindsight, they may well regret not taking that higher bid when it was offered to them in 2023.