Solihull Moors have completed the signing of Hull City defender Jevon Mills on a 28-day youth loan, becoming the second defender to join the side in recent weeks.
Mills becomes the seventh player to join the National League side since the turn of the year. However, he is the second defensive reinforcement following the arrival of Mitchell Roberts on loan from fellow Championship side Birmingham City.
The Republic of Ireland youth international spent a brief period of time on loan with fellow National League side Gateshead at the start of the 2022/23 season, making six appearances.
The addition of Mills adds further strength and defensive cover to Neal Ardley’s side, even allowing them to change to a back three/five if required in order to see out certain matches if he’d like.
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Mills’ Season So Far
The 19-year-old joined National League rivals Gateshead in the summer, being named in the match day squad in eight of the clubs first nine league matches, making five appearances.
However, he failed to make the squad in the next three games, which included the reverse fixture against Solihull Moors.
He has also made an appearance in this season’s FA Cup, playing 83 minutes in the clubs 3-2 defeat against giant killers Stevenage FC, who went on to eliminate Premier League Aston Villa this season.
Since his return, Mills has been limited to appearances in the Professional Development League but failed to challenge for the first team at Hull City, except for being named as an unused substitute in the Tigers match against West Bromwich Albion in August.
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What do we know about the deal?
The 19-year-old has joined Neal Ardley’s side on a 28-day loan, which will allow him to feature in matches between now up to mid-March, but there is always the option of an extension.
This was the case with fellow on-loan forward Bartosz Cybulski, who originally joined on a one-month loan before having that deal extended on two further occasions.
There isn’t a disclosed date on when the players contract at the Championship side expires, however, being a fellow Midlands based player (born in Nottingham), there is always a slight possibility that the deal could be extended briefly, maybe permanently further down the line.
This of course would depend entirely on his personal development plan at Hull City.
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What have Hull City said?
Following confirmation of the loan deal, ahead of Solihull’s National League clash with Dagenham & Redbridge, Hull City released an article wishing the player well in a short statement.
There is no early indications on a possible clause to extend the deal beyond the 28-day period, although that isn’t entirely surprising and is something that’s likely been discussed between the two clubs.
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What have Solihull Moors said?
Speaking to the clubs official website, manager Neal Ardley appeared to be delighted at another defensive reinforcement for his side.
Ardley stated, “Jevon is an old-fashioned centre-back, a player who wants to defend and do the dirty work.
“He’s someone who we’ve looked at for a while and he was on loan at Gateshead earlier in the season, so he has good experience under his belt at this level.”
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What has the player said?
Again speaking to the club website, Mills appeared to be happy to join the National League side, in their attempts to end a bad patch of form and returning to the play-off picture.
Mills stated, “I can’t wait to get started, help the team win games hopefully and enjoy my football.
“I heard about it yesterday and came down to training; I’ve been really impressed with the facilities and the standard in training today, so now I’m really looking forward to it.
“We came up against Solihull when I was at Gateshead, and they seemed like a very good side on that day, and we were actually lucky to get anything from that game.
“The standard of the league is really high and its another good challenge for me.”
