Following an incredibly promising 2025/26 Championship season, Millwall will aim to have effectively licked their wounds after suffering disappointment on two occasions in the campaign’s final stages.

The Lions have been out of English football’s top flight since 1990, with only two seasons in the elite in their history.

For so long, since their promotion from League One nine years ago, the South London club has been dubbed as the Championship’s ‘almost’ team, having pushed fiercely for a spot in the top six before falling short.

However, this would soon change in 2025/26, which was Alex Neil’s first full season in SE16 after taking over in December 2024 after Harris’ second tenure in charge ended.

The Scot is now one of the most experienced managers in the second division, having won the play-offs with Norwich City 11 years ago before honing his skill at Preston North End and Stoke City.

Unsurprisingly, Neil now faces the challenge of maintaining Millwall’s standards in the promotion race after missing out on automatic promotion at the expense of Ipswich Town, then losing 2-0 on aggregate to Hull City in the play-off semi-finals, with the sixth-placed Tigers eventually winning the post-season lottery under Sergej Jakirovic.

With the summer transfer window being open, Neil is apparently keeping an eye on current happenings at the MKM Stadium.

Millwall launch a £5 million transfer raid for Hull City star Kyle Joseph.

According to the Daily Mail, Millwall has prepared a £5 million transfer bid for the Tigers’ Scottish attacker, Kyle Joseph.

It has been widely documented that City’s third Championship play-off success came against the backdrop of a two-window transfer fee restriction, with Joseph being one of the last players on whom the club could spend a fee in January 2025.

Indeed, after Football League World exclusively reported Hull’s interest in the then-Blackpool forward, it was revealed that the club paid £2.5 million to sign him from the League One side, where he had plenty of success in front of goal.

Joseph failed to score during his first season at HU3 under Ruben Selles, but he broke his duck in a 3-1 victory over Southampton last September and went on to score seven more goals.

He appeared in 49 Hull matches across all competitions last season, but missed out on a chance to play at Wembley after requiring surgery on an ankle injury caused by a strong tackle from Millwall’s Thierno Ballo at The Den last month. Mohamed Belloumi took his place in the semi-final, changing the course of the game.

If Millwall were to pay £5 million for his services, it would equal their club record set last summer by Josh Coburn’s signing, as well as improve Hull’s present financial position, since they must earn about £6 million to avoid violating the EFL’s PSR laws.

Kyle Joseph may be swayed by emotional factor in Millwall-Hull City trade.

Joseph, who was raised in Southport, is of London origins. He scored two of his eight goals last season in a 3-1 win at The Den on December 13th, but indicated that his father would be disappointed owing to his Lions affiliation.My father likes Millwall…probably won’t get a phone call,” he quipped at the time, before his second match in South London of the season was clearly bittersweet.

Tigers fans will undoubtedly wish the 24-year-old well after his tireless efforts, highlighted by a spectacular goal-line clearance against Charlton Athletic on April 25th, which proved critical as Jakirovic’s team secured a play-off position the following week.

Meanwhile, Joseph’s versatility might be extremely beneficial to Millwall, especially because star winger Femi Azeez is receiving attention of his own.