NEIL Harris will be mulling over the futures of his young loan players in the next few weeks as they complete their spells at other clubs.
The Lions boss has been keeping a keen eye on the progress of the club’s youthful stars who have been looking to make a name for themselves away from The Den.
Alex Mitchell has impressed at Lincoln City where he just missed out on a League One play-off place while Niino Adom-Malaki enjoyed regular football for Sutton United before their season ended with relegation out of League Two.
Meanwhile, Kamarl Grant played all 120 minutes of Sunday’s National League final and was victorious with Bromley as they beat Solihull Moors on penalties and were promoted to the EFL for the first time. Chin Okoli had also spent time at Hayes Lane in the first half of the season while Kyle Smith had two loan spells at Wealdstone.
Harris said he will be weighing up what’s important for the players as well as Millwall when he plans out their next steps.
Speaking last week, he told NewsAtDen: “Niino is back in with us at the moment to train. Alex is someone who trained with us originally when I was head coach here and I’ve seen quite a lot of over the last couple of years.
“And Kamarl’s down at Bromley, Chin [Okoli] has been at Bromley and Kyle Smith has been at Wealdstone and done well.
“So I’m aware of the young lads that have been out and I’d probably put Alex in there to a certain degree even though he’s not an under-21 player, he’s a first-team player, but he’s still at a younger age.
“Discussions will be had over the course of the summer as to what’s best for them. We have to consider it’s not just what’s best for Millwall but what’s best for them as well.
“It’s very difficult for any player that’s played in the lower leagues, ie conference level or League Two, to come back and expect to play in the Championship next year. So how do we bridge that gap between them and the Championship?
“Alex is slightly different. He’s played in League One and has certainly done well over the last few months. Is he going to be ready for Championship football next year? Those are discussions that have to take place.
“We have to be respectful to the player. Do they want to be here? Forget who the head coach is – do they see their futures here or somewhere else? So we have to consider all of that and make a decision on what’s best for a) the player and b) the football club and that’s what will happen over the coming weeks.”