Dougie Freedman could soon replicate 2011 Glenn Murray signing at Crystal Palace as rumour emerges.
Dougie Freedman pulled off a major coup back in May 2011 when convincing Glenn Murray to swap Brighton for Crystal Palace.
It was a shock transfer for all involved, as the striker had only just scored 22 League One goals in the 2010/11 campaign to fire Brighton into the Championship as league winners, while Crystal Palace were only recently out of administration and favourites to drop into League One.
A story from The Athletic from back in August 2023 even claimed that eyebrows were raised within the Selhurst Park boardroom at the audacity of Freedman targeting the deal, let alone pulling it off.View Tweet
Murray – of course – went on to score 30 goals in the 2012/13 Championship campaign to fire Crystal Palace into the Premier League, and Dougie Freedman could soon complete a similar deal by raiding rivals Millwall.
Dougie Freedman could repeat Glenn Murray deal by signing Romain Esse.
The latest transfer news coming from SE25 is that Crystal Palace will make a move for Millwall No.25 Romain Esse in the January transfer window – according to the reliable Alan Nixon.
Of course, that will be an ambitious swoop to complete, given Millwall’s status as our south London rivals, and the Lions could quite easily play hardball.
However, Freedman does have a chance of signing Esse, as Millwall could do with the income from a major sale, which almost never happens at The Den.
Not since the sale of George Saville to Middlesbrough back in 2018 for a sum of £7m have Millwall received a fee over £1m for an outgoing player, so those in the boardroom at The Den may be tempted to cash in on the talented 19-year-old this January.
Crystal Palace could appease Millwall by offering a loan back
Should Millwall end up playing hardball over Esse this winter, an agreement could be found by offering to loan the teenager back.
Romain Esse of Millwall celebrates scoring the first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall FC and Plymouth Argyle FC at The D…
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
Oliver Glasner could actually do with a left footed winger who cuts inside from the right after losing Michael Olise, although it would be a big ask of the Millwall wonderkid to come straight into the Premier League and make an instant impact.
On that note, we already have that profile of winger in Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who may not be pleased by the rumours involving Esse as he tries to impress Glasner on loan at Sheffield United.
Therefore, perhaps a loan back to Millwall would make sense anyway – regardless of whether the Lions dig their heels in during negotiations with Freedman this January.
