Millwall recently took Southampton’s Jonathan Afolabi on trial.
Millwall boss Neil Harris says Southampton’s Jonathan Afolabi was included in a recent U23 game for the Lions as the club wish to run the rule over young players set to leave their parent club this summer, the South London Press and Mercury reports.
“We’re at that stage now, once you get to April, that players start finding out if their futures lie at clubs or they don’t lie at a club,” Harris explained.
“It is about being proactive. If players have been told their futures don’t lie at the club they are at – they might have been ones we have noticed before or recommended to our scouts – then we might want to take a look.”
“Sometimes it is a lot easier doing now than pre-season – you get an opportunity to look now and get a head-start on other teams.”
Afolabi was one of three new players to feature for Millwall’s development squad against Charlton Athletic. Oxford United’s Albert Hopkins and Harry Ransom, who joined from Eastbourne Borough, were the others.
Afolabi is a 19-year-old striker who joined the Southampton academy after beginning his career at St. Joseph’s Boys in Ireland.
Eligible for the Republic of Ireland and Nigeria, the youngster would have been hoping to be the next top prospect to come through Southampton’s academy which has produced players such as Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Ward-Prowse.
But Harris’s comments suggests Afolabi has already learned of his fate with the Saints with his contract at St. Mary’s Stadium set to expire in the summer.
Afolabi, who is of Nigerian descent, has featured regularly for Southampton’s U23s this season and twice in the EFL Trophy.
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