Five Players Rotherham United Could Look To Sign – Opinion

It’s fair to say Rotherham United had a tough campaign. Finishing bottom of the Championship, the stats were damning with just five wins in their 46 matches.

It was those eye-watering numbers that would cost Leam Richardson his job towards the end of the campaign, with Steve Evans drafted in as his replacement for his second stint in South Yorkshire.

The Scot would take four points from his final three games for his new side following his move from League One side Stevenage, with whom he had been chasing the play-offs in League One for most of the season. 

The rebuild has already begun with the signings of striker Jonson Clarke-Harris and defenders Joe Rafferty and Shaun McWilliams. The recruitment is not expected to slow down either as they work hard to replace the likes of experienced trio Cafu, Lee Peltier and Sean Morrison, who were all released at the end of the season. 

Here we take a look at five players who play in a variety of positions that the Millers could well be targeting to help them seal an immediate return to the Championship:

George Byers

Ex-Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Byers was released at the end of the current season having spent the second half of the campaign on loan at League One side Blackpool.

The 27-year-old played 16 times for the Seasiders. With an 81% passing accuracy, he will be wanted by plenty of clubs including Neil Critchley’s side, although you have to feel that Rotherham will be better equipped when it comes to an automatic promotion chase.

He was pivotal to the Owls’ League One promotion, scoring six times across 24 league appearances. A permanent return to the third tier looks likely

Jamie Reid

An easy link to make. Reid worked under Evans at Stevenage and with Rotherham possibly needing another new striker, he is bound to be an attractive proposition.

The forward played 42 times and scored an impressive 18 goals in his first season in League One following promotion from League Two. At 29-years-old, he is arguably at his peak, knows the division and the manager and would be expected to hit the ground running.

This is the only option in this list of five that would command a fee and with the Millers announcing Clarke-Harris recently, this is by no means guaranteed.

Max Stryjek

By goalkeeping standards, Stryjek is still relatively young at just 27-years-old and he was a regular for Wycombe Wanderers this season up until suspension. 

He joined Crewe Alexandra on an emergency loan in April, helping the club reach the League Two play-off final with some penalty shoot-out heroics against Doncaster Rovers. Whilst he will be hopeful of a deal with the Alex, there could be other suitors in for his signature.

Viktor Johansson has left for Stoke City, despite being offered a new deal at the end of the season. Stryjek would push Dillon Phillips, who is staying despite making just two appearances this campaign. Having been released by Wanderers, a fee wouldn’t be involved here.

Sean Raggett

Raggett has been here before but having been released by League One champions Portsmouth, Rotherham could be one of a number of clubs chasing his signature.

The defender played over 200 times for Pompey across the past five seasons so will be a man in demand, especially given that he contributed to 12 clean sheets across the season.

At 30-years-old the centre-back would also add experience at the back for the Millers and he has played in a back three several times before. 

Marvin Ekpiteta

Another surprise on the retained lists was Blackpool dropping Ekpiteta, who has turned out for the Seasiders 31 times this season.

He played a key role in the Tangerines’ back line as they just missed out on a place in the play-offs. Someone will be getting a dependable and reliable man at the back as he has played over 200 games in his career with 65 of those coming at Championship level.

Ekpiteta will provide composure and experience at the back for Evans’ side if this were to happen. The ex-Leyton Orient man would also offer flexibility as well, having also played right back and central defensive midfield.

RELATED ARTICLES

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

Leave a Reply