Boreham Wood Rejects Djurgardens' £1.5m Bid for Abdulmalik
Boreham Wood are digging their heels in.
The National League club have rejected a second bid from Djurgardens for star winger Abdulmalik, this time worth £1.5m, according to Sky Sports News. The answer was the same as when the Swedish side came in with an opening £1m offer earlier this month: no sale.
For a fifth-tier side, that is a statement.
Club figures at Boreham Wood are understood to be adamant they will not cash in on the 23-year-old, despite growing interest as the summer window ticks towards its close. They see him as the player around whom a promotion push must be built, not the asset to bankroll it.
Djurgardens’ talent hunt
Djurgardens are not bidding blindly. Their chase for Abdulmalik fits neatly into a clear, calculated model: identify young, underpriced talent, polish it, then sell for a premium. BBC Sport report that this approach is being driven by sporting director Maximilian Hahn, who previously headed recruitment at West Ham United.
Hahn knows the British market and its academy system. His time in east London, including work alongside Sweden manager Graham Potter, has left him with a contact book and a clear idea of where to look for value. He is now leaning heavily on those connections, targeting emerging players in the UK who might have slipped through the cracks higher up the pyramid.
Djurgardens have already shown the template works. They helped develop Danish striker August Priske before moving him on to Birmingham City in January 2026. Abdulmalik is next on their list.
From Millwall cast-off to National League star
Abdulmalik’s rise has been sharp. Released by Millwall and picked up by Boreham Wood on a free transfer in 2024, he arrived with youth honours and England Under-17 caps but without a senior breakthrough. That has changed quickly.
The 2025-26 season turned him from a promising winger into one of the National League’s standout performers. Seventeen goals, ten assists, and the National League Young Player of the Season award told their own story.
The real showcase came under the arch at Wembley. In the play-off final, Abdulmalik produced a scintillating performance that crystallised the interest from Djurgardens and underlined why clubs outside England are now paying close attention to the lower leagues.
Deadline pressure and a delicate balancing act
Now the clock is ticking. Boreham Wood face a race against the transfer deadline, not just to repel further offers from abroad, but to keep their talisman fully locked in on the job at hand.
A seven-figure move to a top-flight European club would turn any 23-year-old’s head. The challenge for the club’s hierarchy and coaching staff is to manage that reality, keep the winger grounded, and ensure the speculation does not seep into his performances.
Because for Boreham Wood, this is bigger than one transfer saga. Abdulmalik’s goals, creativity and composure in the final third are central to their hopes of automatic promotion and a long-awaited step into the English Football League.
Hold their nerve now, and they might just trade a record fee for something even more valuable: a place in the EFL.
