Macaulay Langstaff may end up having Millwall FC regret after Lions transfer activited
Millwall have managed to rediscover some form in recent weeks with three successive victories placing them just four points off the play-offs.
Prior to that, they were on a woeful run of one win in 13 games, and it seemed their season was sliding into another year of mid-table mediocrity. Now with a favourable run of fixtures, they will be hoping to prolong their current form and could sneak into the top six come May.
Much of this can be put down to a successful transfer window, with the Lions adding some much-needed quality to their squad.
This was clear to see in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers, as January signings Aaron Connolly and Luke Cundle both got on the scoresheet and Tristan Crama provided an assist.
However, with all the positivity around their new additions, some older faces have been forgotten about and one of them is Macauley Langstaff.
The striker was one of Millwall’s big signings of the summer, but he has struggled with the step-up to the Championship and with the backlog of attackers the Lions now have, he must be questioning where his gametime will arrive from.
Macauley Langstaff’s Millwall struggles
Macauley Langstaff
It is fair to say that Millwall fans were excited in the summer when they secured the permanent addition of one of the most clinical finishers in English football.
Signed from Notts County for a fee of £700,000 plus add-ons, Langstaff arrived on the back of three successive seasons netting over 28 league goals. Upon his arrival at the Den, he was handed the number nine shirt and was hailed as one of the EFL’s most natural goalscorers by former manager, Neil Harris.
Macauley Langstaff’s Incredible Three Seasons (League Only)
Season
Team
Division
Appearances
Goals
2021-22
Gateshead
National League North
39
28
2022-23
Notts County
National League
45
41
2023-24
Notts County
League Two
46
28
This placed a lot of pressure on the 28-year-old’s shoulders and, in truth, he hasn’t been able to match the expectations set by those around him.
Making the jump from League Two to the Championship, he has managed just one goal and two assists in 28 games and his minutes have been dwindling in recent weeks. Since a 1-0 defeat to Oxford United on New Year’s Day, he has started just one second tier game and with the new arrivals it will become even more difficult for him to find minutes.
Connolly, who initially featured out wide, is also comfortable playing through the middle, while Mihailo Ivanovic has been making strides under Alex Neil. On top of that, Middlesbrough loanee Josh Coburn has recently returned to partial training, and they added young options in Zak Lovelace and Ajay Matthews, further strengthening the manager’s options in attack.
With competition for places heating up, Langstaff faces an uphill battle to regain his spot and he may be looking back at the January window with envy.
Macauley Langstaff should have pushed for January move
The Den Millwall
With Neil now having a plethora of options, Langstaff in hindsight should have been searching for a loan move away from the Den.
It seems apparent that he is not up to Championship level unless he is in a side that consistently creates chances for him, much in the way that Notts County did.
His prolific record in League Two suggests he could make an impact at the level above, so it was somewhat surprising that no League One club attempted to secure his services. Whether this was due to a lack of interest or Millwall’s reluctance to sanction a move remains unclear.
However, at 28, Langstaff cannot afford to waste valuable time on the fringes and if he doesn’t find minutes in the rest of this campaign, he must search for a new club in the summer.
For now, the striker’s best option is to focus on earning a place back in the starting XI at Millwall and while this won’t prove simple, if he can make an impact in the minutes he is afforded, then Neil is unlikely to exclude him too often.
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