Gary Rowett is desperate to see Abdul Abdulmalik commit his future to Millwall despite interest from Scottish champions Rangers and Premier League giants Arsenal, speaking to London News Online.
Unfortunately for the Millwall manager, that decision appears to be out of his hands for now.
Abdulmalik is due to become a free agent in just two weeks. And while the Championship outfit hax offered the highly rated striker a new contract, offers from the likes of Arsenal and Rangers may be simply too good to turn down.
On Sunday, the Daily Mail reported two of Britain’s biggest clubs have sent scouts to watch the teenager in action.
Championship rivals Swansea City are also interested and, while the Liberty Stadium outfit can’t rival Rangers or Arsenal when it comes to prestige, they do have a manager in Steve Cooper who led an England U17 side containing Phil Foden, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jadon Sancho to World Cup glory.
Rangers and Arsenal could lock horns over Abdulmalik
“I know he is a player the club have offered a new deal to. He’s a player we think highly of,” Rowett said when quizzed on Abdulmalik’s future at The Den.
“We don’t want to sell our younger players – it’s not something we want to happen. But we’re also aware there are a lot of clubs trying to attract the best young players at other clubs – that’s just the nature of football. There are different ways to do that.
“We think he has a really good future and could challenge for our first team. What you can’t change is sometimes a young agent trying to convince a young player that suddenly there’s something better out there.
“I would love to see Abdul stay at the club.”
As Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo, Nathan Patterson and more will tell you, Steven Gerrard also has a fine track record when it comes to turning promising youngsters into senior stars.
Meanwhile, some of Mikel Arteta’s best work at Arsenal revolves around the development of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka, who have become two of the club’s most important players under the one-time Manchester City coach.
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