MIDDLESBROUGH’S “ridiculous” offer for George Saville made it impossible for Millwall to turn down, according to his former manager Neil Harris.

Saville arrived on a half-season loan until January on Friday after Millwall accepted a bid that it has been claimed was in the region of £7m for him to move to the Riverside permanently in January.

Officially the fee is undisclosed, although the London side have admitted they will receive a club-record fee.

Middlesbrough had tried to sign the midfielder and his team-mate Jed Wallace in a £10m double deal before the transfer window closed earlier last month.

In the end they had to strike a deal for Saville on his own, with Tony Pulis admitting that he is excited about working with a player he has admired during his time at Millwall, Wolves and Chelsea’s academy.

The 25-year-old will be available for the trip to Norwich on September 15 after the international break, and he will be using this fortnight to prove he can slot straight into the way Pulis wants his team to play.

Millwall were reluctant to lose Saville, a player they signed for an initial £350,000 from Wolves just a year earlier. Millwall ended up paying £500,000, which is small change compared to the sort of figures Middlesbrough had to reach.

“From a business perspective, George had to go,” said Harris. “The amount of money offered is ridiculous. From a business perspective, it’s good business by us.

“John (Berylson, the club’s owner) bought him for peanuts and sold him for millions and millions. As a manager, of course I’d have loved to keep George - he did fantastically well for me.

“But once a player gets his head turned and wants to leave, it’s difficult to keep somebody. No complaints about that. We acted in the market, thinking about George going, bringing in Tom Bradshaw and Ryan Leonard.”

Saville played 45 times for Millwall last season and found the net ten times, which is another indication of how Pulis wanted to bring players in over the summer who can score. Paddy McNair arrived from Sunderland in a £5m deal with the same task laid in front of him.

McNair is having to bide his time to get back into the side after recovering from injury and the arrival of Mo Besic, who Pulis loved working with last season following his loan from Everton. Saville will be faced with the same challenge, of breaking in to the team ahead of McNair, Besic and Jonny Howson.

  • Middlesbrough’s home match against Derby on Saturday, October 27 has been selected by Sky Sports and will kick-off at 12.30pm. The game will see Frank Lampard bring the Rams to the Riverside to the first time under him.
  • Middlesbrough have four fixtures being shown by Sky in October and November, starting with the visit to Ipswich on Tuesday, October 2 (7.45pm). They travel to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday, October 19 (7.45pm) before the Derby game is followed by Pulis taking on his former club Stoke City on Saturday, November 3 at 5.30pm.