Macaulay Langstaff in fierce Millwall FC battle that he may not have expected | OneFootball

It's been a tricky start to Championship life for the former Notts County forward

Macaulay Langstaff was one of the Football League’s most sought-after strikers this summer after an incredible rise through non-league.

He truly announced himself at Notts County, who he helped climb out of the National League and then kicked on again in League Two the following season.

It left many wondering just how high he could go, being compared at points to the journey made by Jamie Vardy, and he ended up landing at Millwall in the Championship.

With a mind-boggling goalscoring record behind him, he may have presumed he’d go in as the main striker, but he’s found tough opposition at The Den.

Langstaff arrived with plenty of goals to his name

That a club of Millwall’s size were interested in Langstaff is no major shock when you look at the progress he’d made over the past few years.

He really kicked into gear in the sixth tier with Gateshead, notching 28 goals in 39 appearances.

That then took him to Notts County in the National League, where he scored an incredible 41 goals in 45 appearances, plus another seven assists, undoubtedly making him one of the key reasons behind the Magpies’ promotion.

In League Two, he adjusted again to a new, higher division and notched 28 goals in 46 fourth-tier appearances, setting him nicely for a big move.

Langstaff’s faced some tough battles for starts

He got that big move in the summer, despite Notts’ best efforts to keep him at Meadow Lane, ultimately transferring to the Lions for a fee reported to be in the region of £700,000 plus add-ons.

With his transfer fee, the number of goals he had to his name and the clamber from a number of top teams for his signature, Langstaff would be forgiven for thinking when arriving at his new club, the intention would be to install him as their main striker.

That’s not exactly how it’s gone at Millwall.

It hasn’t helped that in the same window that Langstaff arrived, the Lions also agreed a loan deal for Middlesbrough striker Josh Coburn on deadline day and broke their own transfer record to on the same day bring in Serbian forward Mihailo Ivanovic for around £3million.

They added to competition already in the Millwall ranks, provided by existing forwards Tom Bradshaw and Duncan Watmore.

It was an unfortunate set of circumstances for Langstaff, who has so far started just over half of Millwall’s 15 Championship games, scoring one goal and recording two assists.

Langstaff must get his head down and stick with it

It’s fair to say that Langstaff’s jump to the Championship hasn’t quite gone as he would have dreamed, but anyone who has watched him along his journey knows how talented he is.

Fortunes change, and it will only take a run of a few games and a few goals for him to establish himself as the main striker, something he knows he’s capable of if presented the opportunities.

He’s helped by the fact that only Watmore is having a noticeably better season in front of goal, with five strikes to his name, so Langstaff will continue to get his chances by the looks of it.

At 27 years old, he still has plenty of time to establish himself at the level and, thankfully, is already over the hurdle of getting his first goal.

Langstaff is undoubtedly facing more competition than he may otherwise have expected, but the stage is still set for him to turn his fortunes.