The Scotland international made a big money move to Italy from Motherwell last summer
TURIN, ITALY – OCTOBER 29: Teun Koopmeiners of Juventus competes for the ball with Lennon Miller of Udinese during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and Udinese Calcio at Allianz Stadium on October 29, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Filippo Alfero – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)(Image: Filippo Alfero – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
Udinese manager Kosta Runjac admits that Lennon Miller is no closer to making his first start in Serie A.
And the Austrian coach notes that the Scotland midfielder’s cameo in their midweek 3-1 loss to Juventus suggests that he still has plenty of work to do to force his way into the first team picture.
Udinese won the race to land the highly coveted youngster when they paid Motherwell £4.75million for his services in the summer transfer window.
Miller marked his first start in Udinese colours with a goal in their 3-1 victory over Palermo in the Coppa Italia last month but has appeared in just four of his side’s nine matches in Italy’s top tier so far this season, playing 75 minutes in total from the bench.
Runjac insists the 19-year-old needs more time to settle into his new surroundings both on and off the pitch.
Speaking to the media ahead of Saturday’s clash with Atalanta, he said: “He already played a lot last season, and I wanted to test him against Juventus, who are a great team.
“He could have done better; he lost a lot of balls, and that means he needs time to be 100% ready.
“We’ll give him time, as will the city, to integrate him as best as possible. We’re working with him individually on many aspects.”
Miller won his first two caps for Scotland earlier this year and firmly believes Steve Clarke’s team are on course to end their 28-year-long wait by qualifying for the World Cup finals next summer.
He said: “I think it’s the same if it’s your first chance to get to a World Cup or your last.
“To get to a World Cup with your country is probably the peak of your footballing career. I don’t think it changes for anybody.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke and Lennon Miller
“It would be an honour to get to a World Cup and we’re all really really looking forward to the rest of this campaign and hopefully we can get there next summer.
“There is belief in the squad. We’ve got really good players playing at the top level of football, so why not?
“We know all the other teams have got real quality as well. So, we’ll look to see what happens and hopefully we can we can get there.
“It was obviously a really good start with two difficult away games. We want to go home and we want to do our best again.”