Robbie Neilson and Tony Asghar don’t need to be told it is pointless bemoaning a lack of clarity for Dundee United in the summer transfer market.
All the Tannadice club can do is try and plot a route through the coronavirus chaos and be ready to make their move for recruitment targets when the opportunity presents itself and finances permit.
The manager and sporting director have got the task of equipping the first team squad for its return to the Premiership – a season that could begin as early as the start of August.
But the length of time they and the rest of the top flight teams have to play behind closed-doors is one of a number of factors that will determine how extensive the rebuild turns out to be. And it is also one of a number of factors totally outwith their control.
The pair were guests on The Courier’s Talking Football podcast.
Neilson wasn’t trying to be evasive about the business the Tangerines hope to conclude. It’s more a case of being aware that putting plans down in ink would be a futile exercise.
“Tony and I have discussed what we would like,” he said. “There are four or five different budgets Tony’s working from.
“I wouldn’t want to put a number on it but we do feel we need to add in certain areas – wide is one area and striker is another.
“But we have to understand that with the financial uncertainty you have to make sure you target specific areas and do it gradually. There are different factors like when the fans are allowed back into the stadium
“There are areas we’d like to move on quickly. There are areas that if we manage to get fans back in early we can move on as well.
“I don’t like to say we’re going to bring in X amount of players or Y amount. We know where we need to recruit, we’ve got targets in mind and it’s just a case of when we can make those moves.”
Neilson added: “The window hasn’t opened yet. We know the areas we need to strengthen in.
“We’ve got our targets and we’re working on a lot of them. Some are further down the line than others.
“It’s obviously a difficult time to make changes but we do expect that we will improve the squad. I’m excited about the ones hopefully we’ll be able to get in.
“It’s a big jump from the Championship to the Premiership – probably bigger than when I came up with Hearts as manager.
“We’ll be competing week in, week out with good teams and we have to strengthen in the right areas.
“It’s a big challenge for us but one we’re looking forward to.”
Asghar may not yet be sure what a fair price for a target, or indeed one of his own players, will look like. And his judgment over the next few months will be key to conducting deals both in and out of the club.
“It’s definitely going to be a buyers’ market,” he said. “There will be a lot of players available.
“People will try and utilise the financial situation to buy our players and we also have to utilise that.
“We’ve got a constantly moving target with all the uncertainty. We’ve been speaking to a lot of people. There is a merry-go-round of discussions.
“Nobody really knows where the market is. We have to have loads of scenarios. We will strengthen the squad – how that looks and how many is difficult to say.
“Make no mistake, there are players here who have become more valuable assets after winning the Championship and there will be interest in not just the one player (Lawrence Shankland) everyone talks about.
“We have to be ready to replace them with similar players or even better ones.
“If Covid hadn’t hit, people would be knocking our door down for a number of players. We’ve created assets.
“We know we’re a selling club. If bids come in, we’ll have to look at them. We’ll see how the marketplace is and have succession planning.”
United’s stance on Shankland hasn’t changed from the last transfer window, even though it’s less clear what his monetary value will be and which clubs will be in a place to tempt the Tangerines to do business.
“I’ll say it again, Lawrence loves it here,” said Asghar. “He lives in Dundee and his partner’s going to have a baby.
“We want to keep him as long as we can. Let’s see what the transfer window looks like. Hopefully we can get through that and he’s playing for us in the Premiership.”
