Millwall, Romain Esse transfer claim dropped ahead of EFL Cup reunion - he could've been a "cult hero" | OneFootball

FLW have spoken to our Millwall fan pundit about Romain Esse's disappointing start to life at Crystal Palace following his big money January move.

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 mixed start to their Championship season has come despite losing several key players to other clubs both over the summer and during the January transfer window.

One such transfer was the sale of Romain Esse from Millwall to Crystal Palace in the January transfer window for a whopping fee of £12 million, which could go as high as £14.5 million including add-ons.

But Esse hasn't had a positive start to his time at Selhurst Park since his Millwall departure, albeit following an explosive start, when he scored with his first touch for his new club in a 2-1 home defeat against Brentford in January.

Things didn't continue in that vein for the young winger though.

He was involved in a high-profile scolding from head coach Oliver Glasner after a mistake of his directly led to a Liverpool goal in a Premier League match at Selhurst Park on the last weekend of last season, and he's only made one 24-minute cameo appearance from the bench in the Premier League so far this season.

"He's clearly a talented boy" - Romain Esse backed to bounce back from difficult Crystal Palace start

Bearing all of this in mind, Football League World have spoken to our Millwall fan pundit Lucas Ball to ask if he thinks Esse will be regretting his January 2025 move to Selhurst Park, given he's had a lack of game-time under Glasner:

"It's always tough for young players, I think," Lucas told FLW.

"You run the risk of potentially staying at Millwall, having a less impressive second half to last season, and then potentially that interest wanes from Premier League clubs a little and the move doesn't necessarily happen at that point.

"It's obviously not worked out the way he'd have wanted so far, we're all aware of that, and there are rumours that he could go out on loan."

"Him and Glasner don't seem to get on too well. I think a lot of that stems from a substitute appearance against Liverpool last season, when he tried a trick on the edge of the opposition box, then Liverpool have won the ball, gone on the counter and scored to make it 1-1.

"He was subbed back off, having come on as a substitute following that, and then Glasner didn't really mince his words afterwards talking about it, either."

And Lucas believes that while the money received for him was very useful in helping the club rebuild for the Alex Neil era at The Den, the player has missed out on an opportunity to cement his reputation at his now-former club.

"There'll be elements where you might think, 'with the players Millwall have brought in he could have had a good chance of getting into the Premier League with us anyway'," explained Lucas.

"Having come through our academy, he could have gone down as a real cult hero among Millwall fans and a real example to the other academy players coming through.

"But at the same time it gave us good money to spend in January. We've broken our transfer record a few times because of it, partly because of that fee and a couple of others that have come in.

"It's one of those. You never know with a move in football. I think overall it was the right time for us to move the squad on with Alex Neil coming in and we needed the Esse deal for that to happen."

But Lucas remains confident that the player can continue to develop, even though he'd rather Esse hadn't gone to one of Millwall's rivals.

"I don't necessarily begrudge him moving on," Lucas said.

"I wish it was to anyone but Palace - or obviously West Ham! I won't quite wish him well ahead of Tuesday's game, but I'm sure he'll get a chance to impress in the cup and Palace have got a lot of games to come this season, so there's certainly still time for him still to make an impression.

"And if not, sure he can look at potentially getting a loan move away in January to show him what he's about. He's clearly a talented boy and that hasn't gone away overnight, so he'll have to try and make another decision that's the best thing for his career."

Romain Esse seems to have paid the price this season for crucial Crystal Palace mistake

One of the realities of life in the championship is that players who show a lot of promise will quickly start to attract the interest of bigger clubs, and Romain Esse certainly did that over the 61 League appearances that he made for Millwall before leaving the club in the January transfer window.

Esse impressed almost immediately for the Lions upon his graduation from the club's academy to their senior squad in 2022, earning glowing reviews for his debut for them in a friendly against Brondby in November of that year.

This upward trajectory continued through the 2023-24 season, when he made 25 appearances for the club, and he had been an ever-present for them before Crystal Palace swooped to take him to Selhurst Park in the middle of the January 2025 transfer window.

But things haven't gone according to plan since he arrived there. He only made seven appearances for them throughout the second half of the 2024-25 season, and only one of those came in the starting 11.

This made it all the more important that he made a good impression when he didn't get on the pitch, and when his mistake led to Liverpool equalising on the final weekend of last season, the Palace head coach didn't hold back in his post-match comments.

Esse certainly seems to have paid a price for it this season. His sole appearance in the League for them so far this season came in Palace's 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last month.

But there could still be opportunities for him this season. With Europa Conference League football as well as the Premier League and domestic cups to play for this season, Oliver Glasner will need to rotate his squad.

Ironically, his former club travel to Selhurst Park on Tuesday night for an EFL Cup match, which would be a terrific opportunity for the player to put that error behind him and turn the page for a fresh start for this season. Millwall fans will be hoping that he can postpone this kick-start until after this one has played out, though.