Soccer Football – Championship – Millwall v Preston North End – The Den, London, Britain – February 1, 2022 Millwall’s Oliver Burke in action with Preston North End’s Alistair Mccann Action Images/Peter Cziborra EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, device lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online use during the game limited to 75 images, without video emulation. It is not used in single club/league/player betting, games or publications. Contact your account representative for more details.
This article is part of ‘The Football League World’s Verdict‘, which provides personal opinions from FLW writers on the latest news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Millwall decided to lure Oliver Burke back to The Den on loan during the latter stages of last month, with parent side Werder Bremen sanctioning a loan release for the 25-year-old.
He only joined the German side from Sheffield United during the summer transfer window, and had made a respectable 17 appearances for the former during the first half of this campaign.
However, most of these appearances came from the bench and he was even an unused substitute on a few occasions, which convinced Ole Werner’s side to link up with Gary Rowett’s side again.
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Burke plied his trade with the Lions during the second half of last season before his return to Bramall Lane, with the 25-year-old scoring twice in 14 appearances.
There were even reports that the Championship club were looking to secure him a permanent contract, but that ultimately failed to materialize and the player eventually moved to Germany. However, should the Lions try to sign him permanently again this summer?
We asked some of our writers on FLW for your views on this matter.
Jorge Dagless
A little early to say for me in all the truth.
He’s had a pretty positive start to life at Millwall this time around and that’s obviously a good sign, but the old saying goes that one swallow doesn’t make a summer and I think that applies here.
Let’s see what Burke can do for the rest of the season before Millwall – or anyone else – makes a call about signing him permanently for next season.
I think we all know Burke has quality, but it’s about finding an element of consistency and bringing that to the table every week that we need to see from him and Rowett hopes that happens as they look for a promotion.
holmes
It’s too soon to say that.
One thing is clear, Gary Rowett is a huge fan of Oliver Burke. You can tell by the fact that he’s been loaned out for the second time, but also by the way the Lions manager talks about him.
If — and it’s a big if — Rowett can help Burke find some consistency in the coming months, then I think a permanent deal could make a lot of sense.
That doesn’t necessarily have to start every game or score a lot of goals, it could just consistently impact games off the bench.
When Burke is on song, even the best Championship defensemen will have a hard time handling him and a game changer like that is not easy to find, especially if you don’t have a huge budget.
The jury is still out but it is something Millwall should consider.
adam jones
Burke is owed a lot of credit for his performance against former team Sheffield United last weekend, because he stepped up long before he was dropped.
His time at the Blades didn’t exactly work out for the best and it’s a shame he spent so much time there because he wasn’t able to develop much at Bramall Lane, but at 25, he still has the potential to improve. quite.
With his parent club currently on track to remain in the Bundesliga beyond the end of this campaign, Burke could see his playing time in Germany limited yet again this season.
This could allow the Lions to swoop in and lure him to the English capital for a reasonably cheap fee, so this is certainly a potential deal they should consider if the Scotland international can continue to impress between now and the end of the season. .
However, with the player having only made four league appearances since his return to The Den, it’s a bit early to make a fair assessment as to whether or not they should definitely be looking to recruit him long-term.