EFL Transfer Bulletin #8 – Josh Coburn, Carlton Morris, and 3 signings apiece for Exeter & Bristol Rovers

The latest 44 done deals in the EFL, and in focus: Millwall's familiar new record signing

The EFL Transfer Bulletin is written by Ali Maxwell, George Elek, Huw Davies, Sam Parry, Matt Watts, Craig Bradley and Riley Roberts, with the help of the NTT20 Squad.

“Been anywhere nice on holiday…?”

All feeling a bit real now, isn’t it? The fixture list is out. The League Cup and EFL Trophy draws has been made. Players are back in training, or they’re enjoying one last massive takeaway before their weigh-in on Monday.

And you know everybody’s holidays have finished when the transfer window goes bananas. No time for uploading Facebook albums (ask your dad), nor showing friends your holiday slides (ask your grandad) – there’s work to be done.

The rest of us return home and open a few windows to get some air circulating, before discovering something nasty in the fridge that we thought we’d thrown out. Football managers return to their clubs, also hoping not to discover any surprises, and set about freshening things up. It’s time for The Big Shop.

Here are the latest 44 EFL transfers.

Millwall just got interesting…

Josh Coburn (ST) - [Middlesbrough - Millwall] - Undisclosed (reported £5m inc. add-ons)

Part One

For a long time, Millwall were the most stable and predictable club in the Championship when it came to the way they played, the players they signed and the way they operated in the transfer market.

But one of the oldest, most consistent squads in the Championship is having a big revamp. Everything has changed in the past 12 months, a period in which they have broken their transfer record three times. First was Mihailo Ivanovic. Then came Camiel Neghli. And now Josh Coburn’s loan turns permanent. The team that finished 8th in the Championship last season are attempting to put in motion a period of ‘player trading’ that could raise the ceiling of the club.

Let me explain: aside from the sale of George Saville to Middlesbrough in 2018/19, Millwall had never sold a player for more than £5m. Then they sold Zian Flemming to Burnley for a reported £7m, and Romain Esse to Crystal Palace for a reported £12m + add-ons. And they’ve been proactive with that income, breaking their transfer record to buy Ivanovic and Neghli in consecutive windows, and making eight permanent signings in January, all within the 18-24 age range.

This idea was most successfully executed by Brentford, starting in 2015 following the big-money sales of Andre Gray and Moses Odubajo. Reinvest player sales into previously unattainable players. Sell one, buy three with the money. Sell two of those three, buy six more with the money. Four years later you have Ollie Watkins, Bryan Mbeumo, Saïd Benrahma, David Raya, Rico Henry, Christian Norgaard. You get the picture.

The Ivanovic-to-Everton rumours are growing, and Japhet Tanganga has had plenty of buzz this summer, which suggests more strong sales are in the offing. Millwall will be inspired by Sunderland’s success in winning promotion to the Premier League while operating one of the most blatant and bullish buy-to-sell strategies in memory.

None of this guarantees success. It requires excellent recruitment, succession planning, player development, long-term conviction and, ideally, strong buy-in from fans. That’s a lot to achieve. But, purely from a player trading point of view, Millwall have gone from arguably the Championship’s least surprising team to its most interesting.

For Part Two of this analysis of Josh Coburn’s move to Millwall, focusing on the transfer fee and Coburn’s assets, scroll down or hit the Subscribe button.