"Consider not signing him" - Rotherham United & Matt Hamshaw warned against deal for 31-year-old | OneFootball

Rotherham United have been warned against the permanent signing of Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu by our FLW Fan Pundit.

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…

Rotherham United are preparing for a second successive season in League One after an underwhelming campaign in the third-tier this year, following their relegation from the Championship in 2024.

The Millers did initially improve following the sacking of Steve Evans in the spring and caretaker boss Matt Hamshaw has now been given the job on a permanent basis, despite the South Yorkshire club winning just one of their last five games, with that coming on the final day at home to Peterborough United.

As they seek to rebuild the squad and go again to challenge for promotion from League One once again, having gained promotion from the third-tier on four occasions in the last 11 years, they have been warned against the permanent signing of Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu.

Rotherham warned against Mpanzu deal

Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu spent the second-half of the 2024/25 season on loan at the New York Stadium from Luton Town, where he had been for the previous 11 years.

He made 18 appearances for the Millers and is now a free agent, having been released from Luton, where he rose from the National League and all the way to the Premier League with the Hatters.

FLW’s Rotherham Fan Pundit Tom Eyre has, though, warned against the club bringing the 31-year-old former West Ham United midfielder in on a permanent deal this summer.

Tom said: “No. I think that Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu is on the older side of what Rotherham and what Matt Hamshaw is trying to achieve.

“He’s an experience pro, of course, but I think his time at the Millers was underwhelming, based on the quality that we know he possesses.

“I’d really consider not signing him and that’s not something against the player. He’s just the wrong side of 30, and he’s not going to improve the team from what I can see.

“However, having said that, if we were to go out and sign him, then it wouldn’t be the worst piece of transfer business in the world, but I think his wage fees and his agent fees and what he offers the squad would be redundant.

“I think you can go out and get better players for the system that Hamshaw wants to create for less, if not equal, what Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu offers.”

Rotherham’s rebuild

Last summer, with Evans at the helm, Rotherham brought in 14 new signings during the summer transfer window as they sought to rebuild their squad following their relegation.

However, it was a difficult campaign in which they finished in the bottom-half of the table, having been considered as one of the pre-season promotion favourites.

In their retained list that was announced a few days after the end of their season, Rotherham confirmed that Dillon Phillips, Alex Hull, Alex MacDonald and Andre Green had been released, whilst Mpanzu had returned to his parent club following the end of his loan deal alongside Dan Gore, Louie Sibley and Mallik Wilks.

Five players were offered new deals but centre-back Hakeem Odoffin has already rejected his contract offer, leaving Rotherham with a limited number of players under contract ahead of the summer.

It is expected to therefore be a busy window in terms of arrivals at the Millers, but they have been warned against extending Mpanzu’s stay at the club.