This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Millwall decided to lure Oliver Burke back to The Den on loan during the latter stages of last month, with parent side Werder Bremen sanctioning a loan exit for the 25-year-old.

He only joined the German side from Sheffield United during the summer transfer window - and had made a respectable 17 appearances for the former during the first half of this campaign.

However, most of these appearances came from the bench and he was even an unused substitute on a few occasions, persuading Ole Werner's team to link up with Gary Rowett's side once again.

 

 

Burke plied his trade for the Lions during the second half of last season before his return to Bramall Lane, with the 25-year-old scoring twice in 14 appearances.

There had even been reports that the Championship club were looking to secure a permanent deal for him - but that failed to materialise in the end with the player making the switch to Germany in the end. Should the Lions try to sign him permanently again this summer though?

We asked a few of our writers at FLW for their opinions on this question.

George Dagless

A bit early to say for me in all truth.

He's had a pretty positive start to life at Millwall this time around and that is obviously a good sign but the old saying is one swallow doesn't make a summer and I think that applies here.

Let's see what Burke can do for the rest of the season before Millwall, or anyone else, makes a call over potentially signing him permanently for next season.

I think we all know that Burke has quality but it's about finding an element of consistency and bringing that to the table each week that we need to see from him and Rowett will hope that can happen as they search for promotion.

Ned Holmes

It's too early to say.

One thing is clear, Gary Rowett is a big fan of Oliver Burke. You can tell that from the fact they've signed him on loan for a second time but also from the way the Lions boss talks about him.

If, and it's a big if, Rowett is able to help Burke find some consistency over the next few months then I think a permanent deal could make a lot of sense.

That doesn't necessarily have to be starting every game or scoring loads of goals, it could just be consistently impacting games off the bench.

When Burke is on song, even the best Championship defences will struggle to handle him and a game-changer like that is not easy to find - particularly if you've not got a massive budget.

The jury is still out but it's something Millwall should consider.

Adam Jones

Burke is due a lot of credit for his performance against former side Sheffield United last weekend - because he stepped up to the plate well before being taken off.

His time at the Blades didn't exactly work out for the best and it's a shame he spent so much time there because he wasn't able to develop a huge amount at Bramall Lane - but at 25 - he still has the potential to improve quite a lot.

With his parent club currently on course to remain in the Bundesliga beyond the end of this campaign, Burke could find his game time in Germany limited once again this season.

This could allow the Lions to swoop in and lure him to the English capital for a reasonably cheap fee, so this is certainly a potential deal they should be looking in to if the Scotland international can continue to impress between now and the end of the season.

With the player only making four league appearances since his return to The Den though, it's a bit early to make a fair assessment on whether they should definitely look to recruit him for the long term or not.