Millwall sign goalkeeper Roberts on free transfer

Liam Roberts made 40 appearances for Barnsley last season, on loan from Middlesbrough

Millwall have signed goalkeeper Liam Roberts on a free transfer from Middlesbrough.

The 29-year-old spent last season on loan at Barnsley, where he made 40 appearances as the Tykes reached the League One play-off semi-finals.

Roberts becomes head coach Neil Harris's fifth signing of the summer.

The London club is recovering from the loss of last season's first-choice goalkeeper Matija Sarkic, who died at his apartment in Budva in Montenegro in June.

Veteran goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski, 37, left the club at the end of his contract after five seasons at The Den, having signed permanently in 2020 after an initial loan from Ipswich.

Roberts has flown out to join Millwall on their preseason tour in Spain. The length of his contract has not been specified.

"I think it's the right move for me because it's such a massive club," Roberts told Millwall's website.

"I spoke to Duncan Watmore [who played with Roberts during the 2022-23 season at Middlesbrough] before coming in and he said, 'You'll love it. As soon as you walk through the door you'll get that feeling of family and that feeling of the lads wanting it together.'

"He wasn't wrong at all."

Roberts came through the Walsall academy before moving to Northampton Town in 2021. He signed for Boro the following year.

Millwall begin the new Championship season at home to Watford on Saturday, 10 August.