Boss Mac will have to wheel and deal
YEP 28/6/13
Leeds United boss Brian McDermott insists his summer signing targets remain the same – despite the realisation he must now sell existing players to bring in who he wants.
It’s now clear there are little or no transfer funds available at his disposal from owners GFH Capital, so McDermott will aim to free up his hand in the market by moving on some contracted players – in the hope of kick-starting business after a frustrating close-season so far.
It’s effectively the only option available to McDermott, who has confirmed he has already received enquiries for one or two players as he essentially follows a sell-to-buy policy.
He said: “My targets haven’t changed and I am still talking to the agents and working behind the scenes to do whatever we can try and do. Hopefully, we can do the deals.
“No-one is giving me any impression that they are looking to go anywhere else. But obviously going into July, we want to do these deals and I am still focusing on that.
“Time will tell as far as players coming in and who doesn’t come in.”
One player rumoured to be attracting attention is striker Steve Morison, with his former club Millwall reportedly keen on re-signing him.
But McDermott, conscious that he has plentiful options in some areas of the pitch – with left-back and central midfield two areas where United seem to be well stocked – is keen on doing business regarding players in specific areas, ideally.
Although the fear for many fans remains that McDermott may be forced to cash in and sell prize assets such as Sam Byram, Ross McCormack and Tom Lees – to generate funds.
While McDermott is keen to retain his best talents, it remains to be seen if the club will be able to do so.
The Whites manager has confirmed that a verbally-agreed deal with one player will be completed next week – highly likely to be striker Noel Hunt – although he is first to acknowledge that he expected plenty more activity by now.
He added: “I did expect more signings. Obviously, we haven’t, but we have a verbal agreement with one player, which will happen next week. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a deal. And then we’ll see what happens.”
“It was a situation where we felt that we would have been able to do more in the transfer window, up to now. But the transfer window is miles from closing and all of us - the board, chief-executive, myself - must do what we have to do to get the players we need”.
On the prospect of sales, he said: “That’s a fact that might happen. There might be a situation where one or two go out of the door for one or two to come in.
“There have been enquiries about one or two players. If you have got a surplus of players in a certain position, maybe you can do a deal.
“If it’s best for a player that he can go and play somewhere else to get regular football, then we’d have to have that discussion with that player.”
He added: “Your ideal scenario is always to keep everybody and add. But obviously, you have to do what you have got to do.
“But I have been in this situation before. I have sold big players before, such as Shane Long, Matt Mills and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s of this world and built again.
“I want to keep players. But if there’s a surplus of players in one position, you have to look at that.”
Leeds United boss Brian McDermott insists his summer signing targets remain the same – despite the realisation he must now sell existing players to bring in who he wants.
It’s now clear there are little or no transfer funds available at his disposal from owners GFH Capital, so McDermott will aim to free up his hand in the market by moving on some contracted players – in the hope of kick-starting business after a frustrating close-season so far.
It’s effectively the only option available to McDermott, who has confirmed he has already received enquiries for one or two players as he essentially follows a sell-to-buy policy.
He said: “My targets haven’t changed and I am still talking to the agents and working behind the scenes to do whatever we can try and do. Hopefully, we can do the deals.
“No-one is giving me any impression that they are looking to go anywhere else. But obviously going into July, we want to do these deals and I am still focusing on that.
“Time will tell as far as players coming in and who doesn’t come in.”
One player rumoured to be attracting attention is striker Steve Morison, with his former club Millwall reportedly keen on re-signing him.
But McDermott, conscious that he has plentiful options in some areas of the pitch – with left-back and central midfield two areas where United seem to be well stocked – is keen on doing business regarding players in specific areas, ideally.
Although the fear for many fans remains that McDermott may be forced to cash in and sell prize assets such as Sam Byram, Ross McCormack and Tom Lees – to generate funds.
While McDermott is keen to retain his best talents, it remains to be seen if the club will be able to do so.
The Whites manager has confirmed that a verbally-agreed deal with one player will be completed next week – highly likely to be striker Noel Hunt – although he is first to acknowledge that he expected plenty more activity by now.
He added: “I did expect more signings. Obviously, we haven’t, but we have a verbal agreement with one player, which will happen next week. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a deal. And then we’ll see what happens.”
“It was a situation where we felt that we would have been able to do more in the transfer window, up to now. But the transfer window is miles from closing and all of us - the board, chief-executive, myself - must do what we have to do to get the players we need”.
On the prospect of sales, he said: “That’s a fact that might happen. There might be a situation where one or two go out of the door for one or two to come in.
“There have been enquiries about one or two players. If you have got a surplus of players in a certain position, maybe you can do a deal.
“If it’s best for a player that he can go and play somewhere else to get regular football, then we’d have to have that discussion with that player.”
He added: “Your ideal scenario is always to keep everybody and add. But obviously, you have to do what you have got to do.
“But I have been in this situation before. I have sold big players before, such as Shane Long, Matt Mills and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s of this world and built again.
“I want to keep players. But if there’s a surplus of players in one position, you have to look at that.”
