Rotherham United boss Paul Warne confident Freddie Ladapo will stay at club

Ladapo, 28, whose deal is set to expire in June, informed the club of his wish to leave on Sunday, in what represented a surprise and untimely development for United.

Despite it constituting a bit of a shock, according to Warne, the Millers chief has stressed that he will not be leaving unless the club accept a suitable offer for the ex-Plymouth player, who has hit 12 goals this term.

Ladapo also has an additional 12-month option that could be triggered by the club between now and June.

Warne commented: “It is true he has handed in a transfer request. I’m a bit surprised, although nothing really shocks me in football these days. 

“It came on Sunday morning after we’d gone back to the top of the league. There wasn’t a fall-out with us after the game or anything dramatic like that.

“He just feels that he wants his career to take a path somewhere else and I have to respect that. I can have conversations with him and can try to talk him around, but I can’t affect his emotions. It’s his career. He’s entitled to do what he has if that’s how he feels. 

“We’ve accepted the request, but I’m not anticipating him leaving. I’m not trying to be funny here, but I’ve not really heard of a transfer request in the last 20 years. I didn’t know players still did that. 

“I spoke to his agent. There hasn’t been an offer. We’ve never turned down an offer for Freddie in two and a half years. I would understand it if we had turned down a few offers and the player felt frustrated that we weren’t allowing him to do this or that and that we over-valued him. But that hasn’t been the case. 

“Until an offer comes in that is agreeable to the chairman, he is our player.”