Steve Evans reveals why Christ Tiehi wanted to get away from Rotherham United

The Paris-born midfielder yesterday joined Diosgyori VTK for an undisclosed fee, bringing to an end his year-and-a-half spell at AESSEAL New York Stadium.

The 26-year-old had been missing his loved ones who are in France and were unable to move to these shores to be with him because Britain is no longer a member of the European Union.

"Christ has sat in my office many times, as a human being, as a person, upset and missing his family," manager Evans told the Advertiser. "His family could be here for only a couple of days and his little boy was in intensive care not so long ago.

"He asked my permission to go to France. He didn't need my permission. I just told him: 'Don't bother ringing me, just get on a plane and go.'

"He's a really special lad. I've got to know him well. I will miss him."

Diosgyori VTK are in third place in Hungary's top division.

Evans says that League One Rotherham are making a profit on the player they brought in for a fee of around £500,000 from Czech Republic side Slovan Liberec in the summer of 2023.

At the time, they had never made a bigger outlay on a player, although they went on to pay more than £1 million on striker Sam Nombe two weeks later.

Tiehi, who has just recovered from a fractured cheekbone, made 57 appearances in a Millers shirt and scored two goals. He hadn't played since the win over Northampton Town on December 14.

There was interest in the former Wigan Athletic loanee from third-tier sides but Rotherham didn't want to sell to a rival team and the player's heart was set on heading to the continent anyway.

"The last two or three games he had for us, that was more like his Wigan form," Evans said. "He was really starting to blossom."

"There were three offers that came in from the EFL. We rejected those. I said to the chairman that we shouldn't be letting him go to any of those clubs and the chairman supported that 100 per cent. All three of the offers were from League One."

"Christ's preference was to go into Europe."

Hungary is part of the EU and that means Tiehi's family will be able to live there.