Premier League outfit Leeds United were open to negotiating a permanent deal for Jamie Shackleton this summer before seeing him join Millwall on a season-long loan, according to an update from Leeds Live.
The 22-year-old was limited to 14 league appearances during the 2021/22 campaign, spending much of his time on the bench as a backup right-back option to Luke Ayling with Shackleton failing to assert himself as a regular starter.
This is a problem he has had at Elland Road for a long time now - and finally secured a move away from West Yorkshire earlier this week as he linked up with the Lions in the English capital.
Fellow second-tier side Reading were also interested in taking him away from Yorkshire - but with their superior financial spending power - Gary Rowett's side were able to come out on top in this race.
One thing the Royals certainly wouldn't have been able to do is negotiate a permanent agreement for his services unless the Whites were willing to let him leave for free, with the Berkshire outfit unable to spend transfer fees as part of the business plan they are operating within this summer and for the remainder of the 2022/23 season.
The Lions, on the other hand, haven't been afraid to spend money during this summer and it remains to be seen whether they pursue a fresh agreement for the midfielder next year, with Jesse Marsch's side believed to be open to letting him go permanently during this window.
The Verdict:
Despite the fact he's only come in on loan, this could be a good long-term addition for the second-tier outfit and this is what makes this addition a smart one.
The Lions need to ensure they have a solid core of players that are likely to remain at The Den for the long term to provide stability to the club, something that will be particularly important following the departure of Jed Wallace.
They probably don't have the financial spending power to replace him with a marquee signing, so they need to capitalise on marginal gains where they can find them and having this solid core is just one of them.
To be able to do this, they need to minimise the number of loanees they bring in who aren't likely to remain at the club beyond the upcoming season and this should help to reduce squad turnover.
In fairness to Rowett, he probably would have wanted to strike a permanent agreement for his services but may have been limited by finances. If they had managed to get a fee for Jed Wallace, they may have forked out the amount needed to transform this temporary deal into a longer-term one.