Rotherham United set to complete transfer swoop for ex-Brentford midfielder | OneFootball

The Millers look to be closing in on their third summer recruit

Rotherham United are reportedly set to sign former Brentford midfielder Dru Yearwood, following an extended period playing football in the United States.

The Millers are looking to improve on what was a distinctly average 2024-25 season in League One - they were among the pre-season favourites for promotion thanks to their early transfer business, yet ended up finishing 13th in the third tier standings in what was their 100th season in football.

Steve Evans was sacked by United with one month remaining of the campaign, in what was his second stint in charge at the New York Stadium, and former assistant boss Matt Hamshaw took charge of the club after that, and he has so far made two new signings in the form of Chelsea goalkeeper Ted Cann and Barrow midfielder Kian Spence - both on free transfers.

Rotherham United closing in on Dru Yearwood transfer

A third new arrival is set to join Hamshaw's squad though, with a deal said to be agreed for the aforementioned Dru Yearwood.

As per a report from The Mirror's Dan Marsh via their live blog (June 30, 1:24pm), the South Yorkshire outfit have agreed a contract with the 25-year-old, having been a free agent since the start of 2025, although he did spend time on trial with Sporting Kansas City in April.

Yearwood's last club was MLS side Nashville, who he joined in December 2023 and spent just one season with, appearing 28 times for the Tennessee-based outfit before being released at the end of 2024.

His professional footballing career started in England though with Southend United, who he made his debut for as a 17-year-old in 2017 when they were an EFL club, going on to make 61 appearances for the Shrimpers before securing a transfer to Brentford in 2019 for £500,000 when the Bees were a Championship club.

The Essex-born midfielder played just five times for the west London club though before starting his USA footballing career with the New York Red Bulls, with Brentford turning a profit on the rarely-used Yearwood in a £1.5 million deal.

Yearwood would go on to play 99 times for the Red Bulls before moving to Nashville, but he's now returning to England to carry on his career after being without a club for the first half of 2025.

Dru Yearwood is a strong Rotherham United pickup despite half a year on the sidelines

It's unclear as to why Yearwood wasn't able to find a club in the first few months of 2025 either in the USA or England, but Rotherham may have picked up a smart free agent acquisition here.

Still only 25 years old, which is still relatively young for a footballer, Yearwood has racked up 115 MLS appearances in his time on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, and whilst the level of football there can sometimes be questioned, it's an always improving standard, and his regular starts for Nashville last season are a promising sign.

Rotherham's midfield was definitely an area that needed strengthening going into the summer, as based on Matt Hamshaw's time as manager at the back end of last season, he will be utilising a three-man engine room.

The signing of Kian Spence was a start, and you'd expect Yearwood to slot in next to the arrival from Barrow and also Joe Powell, to make what on paper is a pretty decent and athletic midfield trio.