Championship side Millwall have announced the signing of teenager Ajay Matthews on a permanent deal from fellow Championship side Middlesborough for an undisclosed fee.
The 18-year-old, who was born in Middlesborough, has signed a four and a half-year contract in South East London. According to Sky Sports’ Keith Downie.
Who is Ajay Matthews?
Matthews joined Middlesborough’s academy at U9’s level, rising through the ranks at his boyhood club all the way to scoring in the Premier League 2. He made two professional appearances in the North East.
This season, he has made eight appearances in the Premier League 2, scoring and getting two assists.
He has represented England at U17’s and U18’s level, playing for the U17’s at the Nordic Cup in 2022. He also scored on his U18’s debut at St. George’s Park against Northern Ireland.
While it is unlikely that Ajay Matthew’s will go straight into the eleven to face QPR on Saturday, it is a big possibility that he could be involved in the squad, given Millwall’s current injury crisis.
Why is Millwall a great destination for Matthews to continue his development?
It is well proven that Millwall is a great club for young players to come through the academy ranks or start off there young and become an exceptional player. Romain Esse, who has just departed for a club record fee received, is a great example of that. He started off at Millwall at a very young age, and he made it all the way to the first team. Esse has now made his multimillion-pound move to the Premier League with Crystal Palace.
Some other examples of this are Eberechi Eze, Samuel Edozie, and Darko Gyabi.
Eberechi Eze was with Millwall as a child, although he was released by the club. Samuel Edozie and Darko Gyabi were both with Millwall from a young age. Both players were snapped up by Manchester City. Edozie now plays for Anderlecht in Belgium and in the Europa League. Darko Gyabi is this season putting in Player of the Month performances whilst on loan at Plymouth Argyle from Leeds United.
Therefore, Matthews’ move to Millwall will hopefully see him follow the same path as these players, getting him a bigger move a few years down the line whilst also helping Millwall out and the club would hope to make a good profit on the youngster.
Millwall seemed to have signed a future star.
It was reported back in April by Fabrizio Romano that Matthews was picking up interest from European clubs; however, nothing materialised in the summer as it was first thought it might.
Millwall’s acquisition of the 2006-born talent shows their plan for signing young players to develop and sell on in the future for a much higher fee. This is highlighted by all three of the clubs January signings, all of whom are 25 or under.
- Aaron Connoly, 25
- Tristian Crama, 24
- Ajay Matthews, 18.
This has been a plan all season long; however, it isn’t a new plan from the start of this window. The summer signings of club record signing; Mihailo Ivanovic (19) and Daniel Kelly (18), along with securing the signature of Femi Azeez (23) showed the Lions’ plan all along. It worked for Brentford, so there is no reason to say it wouldn’t work for Millwall
Ahead of the 2023/24 season commencing, Matthew’s frequently featured for Boro in pre-season friendlies, scoring and having a good performance against Hartlepool United even though Middlesborough lost the game. Coming on as a substitute on the 60th minute, the then-17-year-old instantly hit the bar from 30 yards out before hitting the back of the net in stoppage time. He nicked the ball off of the defender before slotting it into the back of the net.
Steve Gallen ‘delighted’ with Matthews signing for Millwall.
Millwall’s Director of Football, Steve Gallen, spoke to millwallfc.co.uk about the signing of Matthews, saying, “We’re delighted to welcome an exciting talent in Ajay Matthews to the club.”
“An England youth international, he has been playing for Middlesbrough’s Under 21s and we see this as a very good signing for our football club.
“Ajay’s an old-fashioned centre-forward who we’ve identified as having a number of positive attributes already for his young age. His pressing, aerial threat and the desire to have the ball to feet is impressive and – most importantly – he loves to score goals.
“He is only 18-years-old, so we will have to be patient and protect the expectations around him. He will be out there training with the first-team everyday, which will be key in his development. We look forward to seeing the impact he can make in the future.”
