United’s director of football David Holdsworth spoke about the ongoing task of player recruitment now that the January transfer window is fully open and operational.
“We’ve already identified players that we want to bring in,” he told us. “We’ve made enquiries with other clubs, because we’re mindful of the fact that we’ve lost Ashley Nadesan.
“If it was possible, we’d bring him back, but that will be down to what other clubs do and what Ashley wants.
“We’re still very keen on bringing Jerry Yates back here, if we can, and Rotherham are being very good with us. We completely understand that their situation with injuries and suspensions meant they had to recall him, even though we were disappointed it had to happen.
“We’re hoping to keep Jack Sowerby, and young Regan Slater continues to be a vital part of our squad.”
“What we don’t want to do at the moment is use our loans up, because of that we’re hopeful that we’ll get Jerry back with us,” he added. “However, there are players out there who will have their contracts cancelled or who will be allowed to leave their clubs.
“I’m very much in touch with three or four of those who will bring pace and quality if we do decide to get them. We’re on the peripheral of maybe one or two of those, but we won’t be signing players just for the sake of it.”
On rumours that Jamie Devitt is a target for a number of clubs, he said: “Jamie Devitt is going nowhere. I don’t care how many agents want to ring me about that.
“It would take an almighty bid for us to let Jamie go. Once the window is closed, Jamie is certainly somebody we’ve identified that we would like to keep at the club.”
“With some of the other lads, Gary Miller has openly said he wants to play football,” he continued. “We’ll definitely support him on that. We’ve had a couple of questions asked about him already.
“Richie Bennett has had one enquiry, but it doesn’t match what we feel about him.
“I’m keen to talk to George Glendon again, because he suggested that he wanted to find football as well. Mike Jones is the same, so we’ll talk to him and see what he’s thinking.”
“The good thing is that our dressing room is a happy dressing room, and there aren’t people knocking on my door every day now,” he confirmed. “Obviously we’ll evaluate any offers we get and, if it’s worthwhile for us, we’ll see if we can do it.
“We definitely won’t be pushing anybody out of the door because we respect all of our players.
“Finances wise, there is room for us to move. We’ve managed the books really well. There is a legacy, and we’ll talk about that until it’s gone, but we’re also able to use the funds wisely, from players who may move on, and things like that, to help us to bring others in.
“I know where we are down to a pound, and I’ll be looking to spend it very wisely.”
