Dundee Chief Executive Scot Gardiner admitted that the club’s potential substantial investment deal is helping persuade players to sign up for next season’s promotion push.
Dundee yesterday secured Willie Dyer and Peter MacDonald from Morton, while Dark Blues defender Matt Lockwood also put pen to paper on a new deal.
Gardiner admitted he is confident other out-of-contract players that boss John Brown would like back at the club such as Jim McAlister, Iain Davidson and Nicky Riley, will also agree to extend their stay at Dens.
And the CEO believes that the possible injection of cash from Texan investment group Keyes Capital subject to approval by a ballot of Dundee FC Supporters’ Society members along with other money from former director Bill Colvin is proving a big carrot in negotiations.
Gardiner said: “It has helped to a degree in that it looks like it is coming to a potential conclusion. I am half working on Texas time because I was on the phone last night to there at two in the morning.
“It is not through yet and there is still a bit of work but it certainly seems to be helping the players to see that happening and it gives them more certainty.
“It allows us more flexibility in terms of length of contract with certain players. We have been speaking to agents and players daily.
“The manager spoke to four this morning and we want to know from everyone this week at least verbally if not in writing because some of them are still away.
“We do not want to pester guys when they are on holiday saying be here tomorrow to sign.
“If we hear verbally, ‘I’m signing’, then that’s fine and we can then move it on. But by the end of this week, we want to know where we are with everybody because we are only a couple of weeks away from pre-season which starts on the 24th.
“So we want a full squad. Whether it is those boys or other ones, we want to make sure that we are going into pre-season fully equipped.”
Gardiner also welcomed the two new additions to Brown’s squad for next season.
He said: “We are delighted to get the two lads tied up. Peter is a proven goalscorer and we watched him a lot before the end of the season. John knows him from his days at Rangers when he had him as a kid there.
“Willie is another we looked at. He actually came back from abroad on holiday to play in a trial match we put on for him here and he was outstanding.
“His commitment is fantastic and he will be a good guy to have in the team.”
Meanwhile the three directors who resigned last week Bill Colvin, Steve Martin and Ian Crighton are expected to rejoin the board, probably following a meeting to be held at Dens Park on Thursday.