Gillingham have not given up on signing former Millwall man Scott Malone, reports KentOnline.
The left-back has been training with the Gills recently, but he did not feature in the 5-0 victory over Dartford on Saturday.
Malone’s contract expired with Millwall in June, as he joined Mason Bennett through the exit door at The Den.
The left-back amassed 189 appearances for the Lions over multiple spells in East London, scoring 14 times, as the versatile defender occasionally operated further forward on the wing.
He has since been training with Neil Harris’ side, whom he briefly played under during one of Harris’ multiple caretaker stints at the Championship club.
The 46-year-old has a spot open for Malone in his squad, but he faces competition for the former England U19 international, who reportedly has Championship clubs interested in his services.
With two weeks to go until the 2023/24 season begins, the ambitious League Two outfit will be hoping Malone’s future is wrapped up soon, but Gillingham have moved swiftly to add Max Clark to their left-back ranks.
Promotion is the aspiration at the Priestfield Stadium this season, who saw a £200,000 bid rejected for League One star Alfie May.
Reports suggest they are also trying to tempt Portsmouth’s 2021/22 Player of the Season, Sean Raggett, back to his hometown, and interest remains in bringing former Liverpool winger Sheyi Ojo from Cardiff City to the South East of England.
What’s been said?
Harris said on Tuesday that he was keen for the situation to be resolved, but that he is open to letting the 32-year-old evaluate other options.
Speaking after Saturday’s game, the former Cardiff manager said: “Scott was still with us Thursday and Friday.
“Scott wasn’t going to start (against Dartford), he wasn’t necessarily going to get any minutes within the group, nothing has changed with Scott, he is still with us, still training, still progressing with us.
“The option to come to us is still very much on the table, but we have been very clear with where Scott is at, we are being very patient.”
Writer’s View
Gillingham continue to be very aggressive in the market this summer, causing optimism surrounding their promotion credentials to be sky-high amongst supporters.
Signing Scott Malone would only strengthen the feeling that it could be their year, with a player who was playing Premier League football six seasons ago now on the brink of joining the Gills.
If the Championship interest is concrete, that could provide a huge stumbling block for Neil Harris, but he will hope his existing relationship with the player could be enough to turn the tide in his favour.
