Are City in the hunt for Ricky Miller?

Want-away Peterborough striker Ricky Miller has dropped a hint this evening about the clubs that may be in for him and Lincoln City are named on the list.

Port vale , aldershot , Dover , Lincoln I honestly don’t care I just want promotion , playoffs , Wembley trips and goals lots of them ⚽️

— ricky miller (@millerboy08) June 6, 2018

He names the Imps, along with former club Dover, National League side Aldershot and Port Vale as four clubs he seems to want to join. Crucially he does say he doesn’t care which one, he just wants promotions, play offs and Wembley trips. I suppose his wish list does match our season’s achievements, but crucial here is the Port Vale link. He’s been rumoured to interest them for a few weeks now which suggests the list of clubs are those he has spoken to. Is Ricky Miller once again an Imps target?

I’m not perfect nor will I ever claim to be but next season is successful I can put my name to this ⚽️

— ricky miller (@millerboy08) June 6, 2018

I think he’s hit the nail on the head here. Twelve months ago he was hotter property than the Holy Grail, a devastatingly good striker with a massive season behind him at Dover. He moved to Peterborough ready to prove his Football league quality, but it all went horribly wrong. Within a few months Peterborough’s chairman was openly forcing him out on Twitter, but a loan move to Mansfield didn’t really work out. Miller looked unfit, a shadow of the player who caught so many eyes the season before. Rumours abound of personal problems, possibly brought on by his Peterborough nightmare.

Has the tide now turned once more? It looks as though Miller is trying to convince potential suitors that he is a man on a mission, a man with plenty to prove. He’s on a good deal at Posh, he could just train with the reserves and take home his pay, but he clearly wants to play football. Could the wayward striker settle under the loving watch of Danny Cowley?

It’s no secret that we’ve coveted Miller on occasion. Danny upset Chris Kinnear with a cheeky bid eighteen months ago, I’d imagine since then he’s been closely monitored. When Miller is good, he’s very good indeed. When he’s bad, he’s self-destructive.

Here’s the thing; which Ricky Miller would we be getting? Is there a chance that we might get the Dover player, the natural goal scorer who creates something from nothing and at his best is absolutely unplayable? Or would we get another problem child, another wayward genius with too much baggage? If it could possibly be the former, then a move would be a no brainer, but this time it would have to be on our terms. Posh clearly want him gone, he clearly wants a club where he can thrive, so it has to be a buyers market. He has to take a hit in wages, Posh have to take a hit on a transfer fee and the buying club take all the risk.

My take is simple. If we do sign Miller it needs to be as a ‘project’, as part of a transfer policy that includes another striker without the problems that Miller has faced. Then, we are not reliant on getting the best out of him and Danny can work without pressure on trying to coax out the clinical finisher. In January a deal was unlikely as Miller wasn’t fit and ready to play regular football, but with a pre-season under our regime, could that change?

I never imagined for one second we’d be linked with him again and maybe, just maybe this is wishful thinking on his part and nothing more. However, it does seem to be that he’s listed the clubs who have expressed an interest and as long as Peterborough don’t price themselves out of a sale, he could pull on the red and white of City in the coming season. If it came off and he has sorted himself out, he might just be the coup of the transfer window, after Bruno Andrade. Who, by the way, is a massive coup that we seem to have forgotten about already. Andrade is Miller one year ago, the hottest property in the fifth tier signing for a Football League club. Maybe, just maybe we might be getting the real thing too.