Rotherham United sign Plymouth Argyle forward Freddie Ladapo in club record deal

The Romford-born player, 26, who scored 19 goals in all competitions for Argyle last term, has joined for an undisclosed fee and signed a three-year contract.

The fee eclipses the £400,000 shelved out on Jon Taylor in August 2016 and is believed to be in the region of £500,000, with persistence paying off for the Millers, with Paul Warne revealing that the club have been interested in Ladapo for around a year.

Ladapo, who had 12 months of his deal at Home Park still to run, said: "I think it was just the way I was approached by Rotherham and just the way it was professional. It was a club who really spoke to me and sold me the dream of wanting to come here and do well.

"I have a lot of physical attributes - pace, strength and can run in behind and obviously score goals. I have a real determination to do well and I think I will do well for this football club."

Warne commented: "He is a striker who we wanted to sign last year in all fairness. We kept an eye on him for a year. He scored goals for fun for Plymouth."

Ladapo has been at the centre of intense transfer speculation in recent weeks.

Sunderland have been firmly linked with a move alongside the Millers - having first expressed interested in the player in January when they saw a £400,000 bid rebuffed by Plymouth at the end of the winter transfer window.

Portsmouth, who saw a smaller offer rejected early in the New Year, also resurrected their interest earlier in the summer, but have since dropped out of the running.

Meanwhile, Millers captain Will Vaulks is expected to complete his seven-figure move to Cardiff City later this week in a deal which reportedly could be worth around £3 million to the South Yorkshire club.