McKenna: We Need to Make a Lot More Additions Saturday, 27th Jul 2024 19:33 Town boss Kieran McKenna says the Blues need to make “a lot more additions” in order to have a squad capable of competing in the Premier League but says nothing is imminent, although target Sammie Szmodics was absent from the Blackburn squad for their friendly this afternoon. “I don’t think there’s anything, as far as I know of, very imminent in terms of the next day or so,” McKenna said when quizzed on current developments. “We’re working really hard, we know we need to make a lot more additions to have a squad that’s strong enough to be competitive in Premier League games. “We’re all working really, really hard on that and we’ve still got a few weeks before the season starts and a few more weeks before the window closes on top of that and I think we all know how imperative it is that we improve the squad further.” Town have been continuing discussions with Blackburn regarding forward Szmodics for more than a fortnight now with the two parties understood to have been inching towards a deal. A fee of £8 million - up from the initial offer of £6 million - plus top-ups taking it to £10 million is understood to be on the table and seems likely to be enough to finally get the move over the line. Szmodics’s absence from the Rovers squad at Wigan may indicate the Lancastrians are resigned to his departure. While not commenting on any specific moves, McKenna was asked about the balance between maintaining the ‘band of brothers’ team spirit which has seen the Blues to back-to-back promotions, while making Premier League quality additions. “It’s certainly a balance to get,” he reflected. “We’ve got a group and so many of them played from our season in League One to the season in the Championship. “We know that we’ve built such a good spirit and style of play, culture in the group, the environment at the training ground, all those things, and that the challenge is to grow that with the players who have been very important to us but with everybody knowing that we need to add considerably to that group to deal with the demands of the division. “I think everyone inside the club is comfortable with that, the players who have been such a big part of it are the first ones to acknowledge that and know that we need to improve the group, and they also want the help because they know the scale of the challenge that they’re going into. “I think that’s always the challenge but I’m really confident with the group of players, the group of staff that we have that we’ll be able to do that.” While the Blues have signed five players - Omari Hutchinson, Aro Muric, Liam Delap, Jacob Greaves and Ben Johnson - it’s perhaps been a surprise that Town haven’t so far added anyone with significant Premier League experience, although McKenna says players of that profile have been looked at. “You always have a balance wit your recruitment because if you’re a newly promoted side, you’re probably not going to sign someone in the prime of their career with lots of Premier League experience because it’s really hard to do that as a newly promoted side from a financial and from a football status point of view,” he continued. “That’s just the reality, we had the same last year in the Championship as a newly promoted side. “Of course, we have to look at things differently and sometimes you’ll find a player with good Premier League experience who is maybe a little bit older and that’s a profile that we’ve looked at in different positions over the summer. “We’ve brought in younger players who have had some Premier League experience, that’s one possible attribute, and sometimes you prioritise youth and physicality and hunger to improve and ability to develop and ability to still grow as a player over those attributes, so there’s always a balance of everything. “In an ideal world, we want to have a squad that has a good balance of experience. We still have a lot of experienced players in the squad, Samy Morsy, Massimo Luongo, Cameron Burgess is 28 now, Conor Chaplin’s an experienced football, Wes Burns has experience. “We have lots of experienced footballers, maybe without Premier League experience. We have lots of young players who have had Premier League exposure, have been at Premier League clubs and if we can find players who can have a balance of both, then that would be welcome as well. “I think the most important thing is to have a balance of the squad that can implement the style of football that we believe is going to make us competitive in the division and that’s what we’ll try and do.” Several of the five players signed so far can play a number of positions and McKenna was asked whether that’s a key element when it comes to bringing players in. “It is,” he said. “But I also think we need to have two specialists for each position, at least, there’s no two ways about it. “That was the target last year and I think we there or thereabouts had it, maybe you could say with Leif [Davis] we didn’t have an out-and-out specialist left-back but we had boys who could fill in there and do a really good job. “We want to have two specialists for each position but on top of that, going into this season especially, we know with the physical demands of the league, there’s every chance that we’ll pick up a few more issues than we have done previously from a physical perspective. “So having players who can cover different positions, bring different qualities, is really important to us and we’ve got some in the door that can do that and it’s always a good asset to have.” Could one or two more move on before the window closes at the end of August? “It’s possible. At the moment, we’re short of numbers, there’s no two ways about it. With the few injuries that we have, we’re short of numbers, so at the moment everybody who’s training with us, and I’m going to include Fin [Barbrook] and Leon [Ayinde], who have been with us all this week. “They’re really important to the group and have to be ready to play a part in the Premier League. That’s just the reality of where we’re at with numbers and availability. “But as the month develops, if we manage to make the additions that we want to make, then we have to have a squad that’s an appropriate size and we’ll look at everyone’s individual case of what’s going to be the best for them and the best for the team. “But, I say again, at the moment, absolutely every person who is with the group is very important to us getting ready for the season.”
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