Providing the platform for record transfers
Competing against the financial power of the promotion challengers and recent Premier League teams in England’s Championship is a tall order for clubs like Millwall FC, who have not yet competed in the PL.
That means they have to do things differently, and be smart in the way they identify, scout and recruit talent.
And that is exactly what Millwall are doing, with the help of TransferRoom.
Their total squad value is £43.0million, the eighth-lowest in the Championship, while leaders Leeds United come in at £203million.
But they’re consistently overachieving and now competing for a place in the top half of the table, having finished 8th and 13th respectively in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns.
Millwall are one of over 800 clubs on TransferRoom, football’s only transfer marketplace.
Through the online platform and in-person events held in key locations worldwide each year, they get direct access to club decision-makers and over 550 Trusted Agencies, as well as real-time market information such as player availability, club requirements and in-depth data intelligence on player performance statistics.
And both the platform and events made a big impact with Millwall’s two record signings in the 2024/25 campaign, Mihailo Ivanovic and Camiel Neghli.
Ivanovic and Neghli deals explained
Nineteen-year-old striker Ivanovic joined Millwall from Serbian club FK Vojvodina Novi Sad at the end of August 2024.
At the start of the same month, they held a one-to-one meeting with the key people at the FK Vojvodina during the TransferRoom Deal Day in Madrid, which brought together decision-makers from over 200 clubs and some top agencies in one place, for one day.
Gallen said: “The deal began when we met FK Vojvodina at the Deal Day in Madrid. We speak to the clubs at the event to find out information about players, to which we then bring back to see if the players match up to what we are looking at.
“We have a good scouting system here, with around 10 video scouts. We'll have some watching the Serbian league, someone watching Serie B and someone watching the German Second Division. Everyone is assigned to their own leagues.
“The FK Vojvodina link starts there and then we send them a message, then they connect us with the agent.
“It's a great way of starting the process. There's always a long way to go in getting deals over the line but having that starting point of TransferRoom is vital.
“It's a very good place to start because you could waste time. I could find out about this player, think he's good and go and watch him a few times and spend a lot of time and money before the club says "he isn't for sale" or he's too expensive. So it actually saves a lot of legwork early in the process.
Ivanovic has quickly adapted to his first senior move outside of his native Serbia, registering five goals in his first 26 Championship appearances and forming a key part of Millwall’s push for a top-half place.
“Ivanovic brings great physical stature and has a lot of energy. He's scored goals already for us. For his first season in England and coming from abroad at a young age, he's done really well.”
Neghli, a 23-year-old Algerian right-winger, beat Ivanovic's record fee at the end of the January 2025 Transfer Window, as he moved from Sparta Rotterdam. TransferRoom's online platform played a crucial role.
He was recruited to fill the void left by Romaine Esse, who became Millwall's biggest-ever transfer out two weeks previously. He was sold to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
"TransferRoom helped with this deal even more so," Gallen added.
"When we sold Romain Esse for a record fee to Crystal Palace, we needed a player to help replace him. Rather than an out-and-out winger, we wanted someone to come inside off the flank and be a direct replacement for Romain. Camiel Neghli is that player.
"We saw this lad doing well at Sparta Rotterdam. He's 23 years old and playing in the position we're looking for. We dropped Sparta Rotterdam a message through TransferRoom. We then got various phone numbers to liaise with the club and the agent.
"TransferRoom being an early part of that process helped. Why? Because the club demonstrated the player's availability to us for a certain price on TransferRoom and we were able to connect with them and get the deal done.
"Without that early connection, the deal would have been much harder to get done, especially before the deadline."
Alex Neil the right fit as Head Coach
Steve Gallen (left) pictured with Alex Neil
Millwall have been one of TransferRoom’s most active clubs but it’s not just player recruitment that it’s helped with.
In December 2024, Millwall used TransferRoom’s CoachFinder tool to help with the hiring of Head Coach Alex Neil.
CoachFinder allows club decision-makers access to in-depth statistics for a database of over 5,000 Head Coaches worldwide, and access to the right Trusted Agent, so they can find the right candidate for their squad and playing style, and avoid costly mistakes.
You can maintain a shortlist of suitable candidates and gain access to their Trusted Agent, so you can act quickly whenever you need to recruit your next Head Coach
Gallen used the tool to confirm that Neil was the right man for the Head Coach job, and had high suitability for their first-team squad and style of play, when they were searching for a successor to the departing Neil Harris.
Gallen said: “TransferRoom helped us get our Head Coach in, Alex Neil. The CoachFinder tool really helped us give us the confirmation we needed that he was the right man for the job. It did analysis on our squad and suitable playing style and helped support our decision.
“We were heading in the direction of Alex initially, but having the stats and data to back that up as well was incredibly helpful.”
CoachFinder success story: How Samsunspor found Thomas Reis
And why should other EFL clubs join Millwall and the 800+ sides in over 130 leagues worldwide on the platform? Gallen sees more broader benefits beyond making deals.
“TransferRoom connects you with people from all over the world and the country from all different levels,” he adds. “In England, we are able to connect with clubs in Non-League, Scotland, Ireland and particularly for us, the options to connect with European clubs has opened up a new avenue for this football club.
“It's made things so much time efficient. Instead of me having to fly to see a player randomly in Sweden for example, I can have more information before I go with a click of a button to ask questions about the player before I look to travel to see them play.
“We look forward to seeing what TransferRoom can do next for us.”
Clubs, join Millwall and over 800 clubs worldwide on TransferRoom now.
/SWEDEN/Malm%C3%B6%20FF.png)
