Transfer window opens and throws up many questions for the Brewers
QUIETER THAN BEFORE? IT MIGHT BE, SAYS MANAGER
AS IF anyone will not have noticed, the January transfer window is open and it is unlikely to be long before something changes in the Burton Albion squad.
For a start, manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink wants to register fitagain striker Louis Moult with his squad immediately and that will mean de-registering someone to make room for him.
Naturally, when he sat down with the media ahead of the weekend’s game with Crewe Alexandra, Hasselbaink was not naming names, Moult apart, but it is not too difficult to work out which players could be involved.
The manager has previously said that this window will be quieter than his last two, since he performed drastic surgery on a struggling squad when he arrived in January last year, then brought in 16 more players in the summer.
But when the question about the window was asked, it drew a chuckle from Hasselbaink. Would it still be quieter?
“It might be! But no, there won’t be 16 coming in this time,” he said.
The squad is bigger than he initially intended, after some late recruitment in the summer to cover a number of pre-season injuries, and it means a number of players have spent more time than they would have liked watching only from the stands on match days.
In fact, discounting first-year professionals, 11 of the first-team squad have started fewer than 10 League One games at the halfway point in the season.
Quite a few of the new members of the squad were given two-year contracts when they arrived in the summer but there appear to be nine senior players whose contracts will be up at the end of the season, so perhaps some might move on at this point, if the club can attract a fee for them – or have their contracts extended.
What we tend not to know about, until they get announced, is when players have options for extensions and that could be the case with some of those nine.
Those with longer deals might be loaned to other clubs. Whatever the length of contract players have, Hasselbaink admits – and is not surprised – that several have asked about their prospects of playing more football. “There are certain players knocking on my door who have not played enough and they have got a little bit frustrated. They want to play,” said Hasselbaink.
“We have to look at whether we are going to loan them out or get them off the books, so I do think there will be some movement. “Obviously, I can’t keep everyone happy. Some have contracts finishing and they need to show themselves in the picture for other clubs. “We definitely need to let one or two go but it has to be the right deal for us. If it is, we will look at it.” Again without naming names, the
manager accepts that not all of his signings have worked out as well as he would have hoped. You would imagine there is not another manager who would not make the same admission.
“It’s how it is. We’ve made a lot of signings and you’re not going to get them all right,” he shrugged.
“I think the core of the group is there. There will be a few going out and we’re also always looking to strengthen the squad with more quality players.
“If I didn’t have targets in mind, I wouldn’t be doing my job properly. We always need to think ahead, see what is out there and see if they can add to what we have.
“We need people to complement the squad but that’s the hardest part, to find the right individuals and the right characters.”
Last season, Hasselbaink changed four of the five loan players at the club, while the fifth, Sam Hughes, had already gone back to his parent club, Leicester City, through injury.
Hughes is on loan again, initially until January, and one deal that must happen, since he is seen as part of the future plans, is either the extension of the loan or the completion of a transfer.
The other four current loanees are Jacob Maddox, Harry Chapman, Ellery Balcombe and Daniel Jebbison and it seems more than one will be on the move.
“The loans, certain ones will definitely change because they are going to be called back (by their parent clubs),” said Hasselbaink, before adding quickly: “Hopefully, not Jebbison! But we’ll have to see what is what in the loan market.”
Meanwhile, Moult’s addition will be announced imminently, or may even have happened before you read this.
“We will register Louis straightaway and he will be part of it,” said Hasselbaink.
“He’s not ready to play 90 minutes but I can chuck him in, put him on the bench and give him minutes.
“Hopefully, we can see it as a new signing, someone who wants to prove himself and also brings a bit of experience.
“We’re looking forward to having his threat in the box.”
We have to loan them out or get them off the books, so there will be some movement.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink