Millwall in pole position to secure Bournemouth transfer agreement
Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper Mark Travers could be on his way to The Den
The tragic passing this week of Millwall owner John Berylson has come as a huge shock to the footballing community.
The American businessman became chairman of the Lions all the way back in 2007 and eventually became the majority shareholder, and he pumped millions of pounds into the club over the 16-year period that he was at The Den for.
Whilst there will of course speculation in time over what happens next in regards to the club’s ownership, it has already been decided by the Berylson family, of which John’s son James is on the club’s board of directors, that Gary Rowett’s squad remains in Spain to carry on preparing for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
Transfers have already been made this summer, with the club’s long pursuit of Scotland international striker Kevin Nisbet paying off as they’ve added him from Hibernian for a seven-figure fee, whilst experienced left-back Joe Bryan has arrived on a free transfer from Fulham.
There has of course been speculation regarding the future of star attacking midfielder Zian Flemming, but as of now Burnley have had four bids rejected in their attempts to take the Dutchman to the Premier League – his sale of course would give Rowett more funds to play with this summer.
Millwall set to bolster goalkeeping ranks
One area that Millwall seemingly look keen to add to is their goalkeeping department – George Long kept goal for much of the campaign and Bartosz Bialkowski is still second in command but links have started to emerge to other stoppers.
Wolves’ Montenegro international Matija Sarkic has reportedly been looked at, but according to a report from The Irish Sun, the Lions are in pole position to land Mark Travers from Bournemouth.
The Cherries are keen to land Karl Darlow from Newcastle United as competition for Neto, and that in-turn would allow Travers to go out on loan from the Vitality Stadium, with Millwall leading that particular chase.
Who is Mark Travers?
The 24-year-old was brought to England in 2016 as a teenager by Bournemouth from Shamrock Rovers of Ireland and a year later he went out on loan to non-league Weymouth for his first experience of men’s football.
Nearly three years after arriving at the Cherries, Travers made his debut for the club in May 2019 at the age of 19, starting in a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in which he was named man of the match thanks to a number of important saves made.
Travers struggled for game-time though ahead of Aaron Ramsdale and then Asmir Begovic, and in 2021 briefly joined Swindon Town of League Two on loan for a few months.
The Irishman got his chance to impress in the 2021-22 season for Bournemouth, keeping goal 46 times for the Dorset outfit as they won promotion back to the Premier League, but then had to play second fiddle to Neto for much of the previous campaign.
Now, it appears that he will be allowed to further his development elsewhere for the 2023-24 season, and Millwall are willing to bring him to The Den to give him a better chance of adding to his three international caps for Ireland.
