"Model professional" - Millwall: Jake Cooper claims made amid bargain debate | OneFootball

FLW has been speaking with our Millwall fan pundit to find out which player has been the biggest bargain during their tenure as a fan.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Millwall have long been a club that has relied upon shrewd business in the transfer market to fill their squad with cut-price bargains and hidden gems.

The Lions have once again evidenced that philosophy this summer, with the likes of Macaulay Langstaff being poached from Notts County, whilst Spurs defender Japhet Tanganga and Middlesbrough goalkeeper Liam Roberts have both signed as free agents.

But which Millwall player stands out above the rest of their acquisitions as being the biggest bargain of them all? Football League World investigates...

Jake Cooper has "paid his fee back 10x over"

FLW's Millwall fan pundit, Chris Chapman, - Chat with Chaps on YouTube - believes that among a host of free agent and cut-price deals over the years, there is a defender that stands out above the rest as the Lions' biggest bargain.

Chapman said: "You could ask a thousand different Millwall fans and you'd probably get 500 different answers. So I'm going to go with someone who did cost a bit of money, but I think in terms of what they've given and will continue to give to the club, has paid his fee back 10x over.

"That's Jake Cooper. Jake joined us from Reading, where he wasn't favoured under Jaap Stam. He joined us on loan originally before making it permanent, and we signed him for I believe a fee of £500k.

"Which he's now gone on to play over 300 games for the club. I think at 29, he's still got many years left in him. Because Shaun Hutchinson doesn't play a lot, he's captain of the club.

"He is ever-present, he's very rarely injured. Yes, he has his bad games, but over the course of his tenure, he's probably been consistently at the top end of the Championship in terms of performances.

"He's contributed in the other direction as well with invaluable goals over the years, which I want to see more from him because he didn't do so well last year.

"He's a great professional. Anyone you speak to within the club talks about how much of a model professional he is and how he keeps himself in good shape, so I can see him being at the club for many years to come.

"When you factor all that in, £500k in today's money is an absolute bargain for a Championship defender, that probably by the time he's finished with us, will have had anywhere between five-10 seasons of consistently performing at Championship level.

"So, my answer is going to go to Jake Cooper. There are, of course, many others that we signed for free, but he's the one that I'd pick."

Cooper has been a stalwart presence for Millwall

Certain players just epitomise what it means to play for their club, and in the case of Millwall's towering centre-back Cooper, he does exactly that.

Big, strong, tough in the tackle, the 29-year-old is one of the most physical players in the Championship, and is a target man striker's kryptonite.

It's of no surprise to see that the former England youth international's 203 aerial duels won was the most of any Championship centre-back in 2023/24, - per FotMob - but what might be surprising to some is just how much of an impact he has in attack.

Indeed, Cooper's 47 shots last season placed him in the top 98.1 percentile of second tier central defenders, whilst his 12 shots on target placed him in the top 96.3 percentile.

His 15 chances created were enough to place him in the top 91.6 percentile, and his 106 touches in the opposition box was more than any other Championship centre-back last term - per FotMob.

With an 80% dribble success rate last season and over 150 accurate long balls, - per FotMob - there's so much more to Cooper's game than simply winning contested headers and getting on the end of set pieces.

He's a very tidy footballer in general, and it's no wonder that he's halfway to 400 Championship appearances before he's even turned 30. Cooper has been a constant presence in the heart of Millwall's defence for seven-and-a-half years.

Cooper is undoubtedly one of the Lions' biggest bargains in the club's history.