Millwall have left Nottingham Forest free to move for Zian Flemming with Gary Rowett admitting the Championship club turned down a chance to sign the Eredivisie schemer, as reported by London News Online.
After the season he’s just had, you’d be forgiven for thinking clubs would be queuing round the block for Fortuna Sittard’s playmaking king.
Flemming, a graduate of the feted Ajax academy, was a Dutch football revelation in 2020/21, producing 15 goals and seven assists to go with his lorryload of man of the match awards.
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Skilful, unpredictable and blessed with an eye for the spectacular, surely plenty of teams in England could do with an attacking midfielder of Flemming’s ilk?
Except, it doesn’t look like it.
Yes, Nottingham Forest have made three unsuccessful bids for the Amsterdam-born 23-year-old but it seems Chris Hughton’s side is the only one making a concerted effort to offer Flemming an opportunity in England.
It has now emerged that Millwall were “offered” the chance to sign the Dutchman only to turn him down.
“Unfortunately, our values didn’t fit theirs,” Rowett said, without going into details.
Could Zian Flemming still join Nottingham Forest?
Now, the use of the word “offered” is an intriguing one.
Does that mean it’s Flemming’s camp approaching clubs to enquire about a transfer rather than the other way round? That, however, can only be speculation at this stage.
Fortuna Sittard may have enjoyed an impressive end to last season but they are hardly one of the Eredivisie’s big hitters. You’d imagine Flemming would get far more exposure – not to mention a sizeable wage hike – even in the second tier of English football.
It remains to be seen, though, whether Nottingham Forest are willing to lodge a fourth bid for a man rumoured to be valued by Fortuna in the region of “several million”.
Flemming did recently suggest a prohibitive price tag could scupper his hopes of a life-changing move elsewhere.
He might just have been correct about that.
In other news, Norwich plan record £15m bid, face Southampton and Crystal Palace fight