Boreham Wood, an English National League club, has received a £1m bid from Swedish top-flight side Djurgården for 23-year-old forward Abdul Abdulmalik, one of the more unusual transfer sagas of the summer. The figure matters because it would equal the record direct sale by a National League club, matching the fee Leicester City paid Fleetwood Town for Jamie Vardy in 2012, raising the prospect that Abdulmalik could follow a similar path to top-level football.

Abdulmalik came through Millwall's academy, played for England at under-17 level and won back-to-back Under-21 titles, but was released in 2024 without breaking into the first team. Boreham Wood signed him as a free agent, and he had a breakout 2025-26 season with 17 goals and 10 assists, scoring and assisting in the play-off final at Wembley. Djurgården, guided by newly appointed sporting director Max Hahn (formerly of West Ham), have twice bid for him as part of a strategy of signing undervalued players for future profit, having previously sold striker August Priske to Birmingham City after a similar route.