Millwall have been the clear winners from six-figure Reading FC deal: view | OneFootball

Highlights

Millwall signed Jake Cooper from Reading for a reported fee of £400,000 back in 2017 following a successful loan spell at the cluc during the 2016-17 League One campaign, which saw the side promoted back to the Championship after beating Bradford City in the play-off final.

Since then, Cooper has been at the heartbeat of everything Millwall have achieved, making 299 appearances for the Lions in total.

As Championship fans will know, defensive solidity was a priority for former manager Gary Rowett, who guided the club to an eighth placed finish in 2019/20 - only missing out on the play-offs by two points.

Cooper was ever present in that campaign, starting all 46 matches in the league and he causing problems in opposition boxes as well - scoring three goals and making one assist.

Likewise, the towering defender was a mainstay for Rowett last season as the Lions agonisingly missed out on the play-offs by just one point. Cooper was crucial again for the side the boasted the best defensive record outside of the top six, conceding just 50 goals.

Cooper was a steal for just £400k

In hindsight, when Reading let Cooper leave the club for a six-figure sum in the summer of 2017, the Berkshire outfit may not have envisaged that the centre-back would go on to be such an asset in the Championship.

He was out of favour at the Royals when they loaned him out to Millwall, then of League One, in January 2017, so they clearly felt as though £400k was a fair price but as time has gone on, it has become increasingly evident that they were wrong to let him go, at least for such a nominal fee.

The towering centre-back has established himself as one of the Lions' most reliable performers, as well as an asset in both boxes, and a leader - something that Reading surely cannot have expected.

The deal between the two clubs for Cooper epitomises the difference in direction between them as since Millwall's return to the Championship in 2017, they have made themselves a solid and stable second-tier outfit who have looked more likely to reach the top-six than they are to be relegated.

The recent appointment of young manager Joe Edwards looks an ambitious one and there is optimism it can help to take them to the next level.

Reading, meanwhile, are in a terrible predicament with back-to-back relegation looking on the cards unless Dai Yongge sells the club as soon as possible.

From a Royals point of view, the Cooper transfer deal may be just another example of poor business being done while those of a Lions persuasion may view Cooper as a figure who embodies everything good about Millwall.