The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
United to cast net far and wide in bid to strengthen
Dundee United boss Micky Mellon says the club have eyes on “dozens of players” ahead of the summer transfer window.
Mellon, who has a year left to run on his United contract amid reported interest from Doncaster Rovers, signed just five players in his first window as United boss and none in January.
Luke Bolton, Ryan Edwards, Jeando Fuchs, Florent Hoti and Marc McNulty have had impacts of a varying degree but all five, notably, came into the Scottish game from elsewhere.
Bolton, Edwards, Hoti and McNulty all moved north from England last summer, while Fuchs was signed from Spanish club Alaves.
Mellon admits they’ll continue to cast the net far and wide but that the Scottish Championship is also a market of interest for the Tangerines. The United boss cited former Ayr United hitman and current Tannadice talisman Lawrence Shankland as a prime example.
“We are on it all the time,” the Tangerines gaffer said.
“We will be looking at our own team and others and how can we make ourselves better? Can we develop what we have got, is there anyone better who would come in and improve us or is there a young one coming through?”
He continued: “We have looked at dozens of players. We would look at the Championship because that would be a decent talent pool.
“Lawrence Shankland has come from there and there are always players there. We watch what is there – we would look at if we could fit them into our squad and would they improve us.”
Mellon continued: “There are also a lot of players in England, Ireland; Scandinavian and Ukrainian players.
“The boys work hard on all these different leagues to make sure we can get the best talent available to us.”
Focusing on the here and now, Mellon has some dilemmas to unpack with his current crop.
As they head for Forfar on Friday night in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup, the Tangerines boss must decide whether to continue with cup keeper Deniz Mehmet or plump for No 1 Benjamin Siegrist.
He remained diplomatic on the selection headache insisting getting the right result was the most important thing.
“They are both good goalkeepers and we are blessed to have both of them,” Mellon added.
“I speak to them all the time and explain what happens some time because I can only play one goalkeeper.
“It is difficult for them when only one can play. When the time is right I will think about it but we will always try to put out a team that we believe will get us results.”
Mellon also explained that talks are continuing with Peter Pawlett following interest from St Johnstone.
He said: “I know the club is speaking to Peter and I am hopeful we can get something done and the boy can get on with concentrating on his football.”