‘Big summer’ – Millwall manager Gary Rowett on transfer window

Gary Rowett has talked about Millwall facing a “big summer” in the transfer market.

The Lions finished ninth in the Championship and completed their campaign with a 1-0 loss at AFC Bournemouth this afternoon.

Millwall face the prospect of losing star attacker Jed Wallace, who is out of contract this summer.

They have already cleared space in their squad with the January exits of Matt Smith and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson. Conor Mahoney will be released and Benik Afobe and Oliver Burke will return to parent clubs Stoke and Sheffield United.

Rowett revealed after today’s fixture that club captain Alex Pearce is set to move on with midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld also in the final weeks of his terms.

Alex Aldridge returned to the Lions in March as director of football operations and recruitment. Harvey Bussell, who had been head of recruitment, left at the end of February.

Asked about the plans to bolster his squad this season, Rowett said: “We don’t work to a specifically set budget, that’s not how John [Berylson, owner] has worked in the past. Obviously Alex has come in to head the recruitment up, along with other things.

“What John’s always tried to do is the best for the club. So if the club needs backing, and we need to bring players in, more often than not he has done that.

“I’ll know a little bit more over the next couple of weeks. Like I’ve said, it’s a big couple of weeks. John has been fantastic since I’ve been here, so whatever he wants to do we’ll work as hard as we can to achieve the best possible scenario.

“It’s clear there is a big summer ahead of us and that summer might need a little bit of investment in one or two players.

“I’ve been in the Championship for a long time. I don’t think there have been many season I haven’t been up and around those places – so we’ve got plenty of experience doing it. The challenge is always how do you take the next step? And sometimes that is a little bit of quality that unfortunately in this division doesn’t come along cheaply. I’d love to say it does – but it doesn’t.

“We’ll have to develop players and we’ll have to get players in that maybe haven’t done as well, like we have done previously. But we’ll also have to recruit well.”