Rotherham United Manager Paul Warne is targeting a number of new faces this summer, as the Millers prepare for the 2022/23 Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Following on from the announcement of the 2022/23 retained list, the recruitment and management team continue to work round the clock to assemble a squad for the second tier.
Although the campaign has not yet finished for some clubs, Warne and his team already have a firm eye on next term.
“They are never nice conversations to have,” Warne told www.themillers.co.uk after being asked about conversations with departing players from his 2021/22 squad.
“We’ve thanked the lads who are outgoing for their efforts this year and now our paths will take different routes, that is the sadness of football.
“It won’t be the same dressing room next year we’ll lose our loan players, as well. I think we’ll need to sign seven or eight players at least this summer and we’ve already started conversations to try and get people in.
“We’re really pleased with how our recruitment team has done to get us this list, that we think contains players that can do well for us in the Championship."
“Now it is a case of trying to get them in. This early in the window, the value of a player is always higher, but the longer you go on it gets more realistic.
“We have to try and be competitive, sell them the club and what we do but fundamentally, some of the players we want are tied to other clubs, which would mean us agreeing a fee first.
“It’s like if you want to buy someone’s house, they’ll probably charge you full price but if you wait until they want to move, you’ll probably get it cheaper.
“It’s difficult to get players in early in the window. The list is always there and it is constantly changing.”
The manager has also confirmed that as of yet, the club have not received any offers from other clubs regarding their own in-contract players.
“We haven’t had any offers for anyone,” Warne revealed.
“In fairness, the season hasn’t officially finished, the Play-offs are still ongoing.
“I wouldn’t think there will be any movement until at least June. I didn’t think we’d get any offers in the January window and that proved to be the case. Hopefully that will be the same in the summer.”