Millwall: New £3m Thierno Ballo transfer twist emerges | OneFootball

Thierno Ballo spent the season on loan with Millwall

Millwall are planning for another season in the Championship after missing out on promotion to the Premier League.

The Lions finished third in the table, just one point behind second place Ipswich Town, and then lost 2-0 to Hull City in their play-off semi-final.

The London outfit will now need to regroup over the summer in a bid to come back stronger and fight for promotion again in the next campaign.

The summer transfer window will also provide Alex Neil with a chance to alter and potentially improve his squad.

Millwall haven’t competed in the top flight since 1990, and this was their first top six finish in the Championship since 2002.

It could prove to be a busy few months ahead, as the club will also have to keep hold of their top stars after the likes of Femi Azeez earned a lot of plaudits for his role in the team’s promotion push.

Millwall make Thierno Ballo transfer decision

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It has been reported by the NewsAtDen that Millwall have failed in their attempts to secure a permanent move for Thierno Ballo.

It is understood that the Lions had an agreement worth £3 million to bring him to the Den permanently after he joined on loan last year.

The winger contributed one goal and five assists from 31 appearances in the league for Neil’s side, but he is not set to remain as part of the setup for next season.

It’s believed that the club reached a stumbling block regarding the £500,000 loan fee paid to bring him from Wolfsberger last summer.

Millwall were hoping that this figure would be included in the £3 million fee needed to make the deal permanent, but that ultimately proved not to be the case.

While the Lions were keen to keep the 24-year-old, and the player was happy to remain at the Den, the two teams have been unable to come to an agreement on the structure of the deal.

The Championship side are now reportedly moving on to other targets, as they look to bolster their attacking options for next season.

Ballo has just one year left on his Wolfsberger contract, and it remains to be seen whether his future remains with the Austrian side, or if a permanent move elsewhere will be on the cards.

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Thierno Ballo exit is a blow for Alex Neil

There’s no doubt that Neil would like to keep this group together after they performed so well this season, so losing Ballo is a setback.

The winger provided ample attacking threat while on loan, and a deal worth around £3 million might’ve been justified given how important he was to their promotion push.

But Millwall will now have to move onto other targets, and there are no guarantees that any replacement will fare as well as the 24-year-old did.

Given Ballo’s success while on loan, it wouldn’t come as a shock if another Championship side decided to pounce on this situation, especially as he has just one year left on his contract and is surely quite attainable this summer as a result.