Boreham Wood manager Luke Garrard has moved to shut down speculation over the future of one of his most valuable players, insisting the club has no intention of losing him mid-season despite growing interest from abroad.
The reassurance came after Boreham Wood produced one of their most impressive displays of the campaign, beating Forest Green Rovers 3-0 away from home in the National League. Goals from Brunt, Lewis Richardson and Rush secured a dominant win — but the performance was overshadowed by the notable absence of winger Abdul Abdulmalik from the matchday squad entirely.
That absence has only added fuel to reports linking Abdulmalik with a move to Swedish top-flight side Djurgården, who are said to have already had an approach worth around £1.5 million turned down by Boreham Wood. For a National League club, a bid of that size for a single player is a significant sum, and Abdulmalik not being included against Forest Green was always going to be read as a sign that talks were progressing rather than a simple team-selection call.
Garrard, though, was quick to play down suggestions that a deal was close or that the player had effectively already left the building. His message was straightforward: Abdulmalik remains a Boreham Wood player, and any transfer will happen on the club’s terms rather than being forced by outside speculation.
For a club at Boreham Wood’s level, holding on to a player attracting six-figure-plus interest from a European top-flight league is no small feat, and it says as much about the strength of their recruitment and coaching as it does about Abdulmalik’s own development. Losing him for a fee in that range would represent a notable financial boost, but Garrard’s comments suggest the priority for now is keeping his squad focused on results rather than getting dragged into transfer-window noise this early in the season.
The win at Forest Green will help with that. A comfortable away victory, built on goals scattered across the first and second halves, is exactly the kind of statement result that keeps a dressing room’s attention on performances rather than paperwork — even with one of their best players watching on from outside the squad.
Whether Abdulmalik features again for Boreham Wood before any transfer is resolved remains to be seen, but for now, at least publicly, his manager isn’t budging: the winger is still very much part of the plan.
