Why George Saville was allowed to leave Middlesbrough and return to Millwall

The 28-year-old had a year left on his contract at the Riverside after making 118 appearances, and scoring 12 goals, for the Teessiders.

After signing a long-term contract with the Lions, Saville said:“I’ve really enjoyed my time at Boro.

“It’s a massive club, and I’d like to thank the fans and the people around the club for making so welcome over the past three years. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the Riverside in November.

“It’s been a transitional period after the club missed out on promotion under Tony Pulis just before I came, my only regret is that we didn’t achieve promotion during my time with Boro.

“I’d just come into the last year of my contract so this an opportunity that suits all parties and I’m looking forward to a new chapter in my career.”

When explaining Saville’s departure during an interview with BBC Tees Sport, Boro boss Neil Warnock added: "There is a lot of reasons without going into too much detail.

"He’s only got one year left and he was on good money but I’ve got a lot of time for George.

"He had his critics but from a manager’s point of view he never let me down very often.

"He had family problems during the season which I don’t know how he coped with.

"I won’t go into detail but he’s amazing and his wife coped very very well coming from London and with her family.”

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