MILLWALL are busy talking to clubs and agents about January transfer targets – as Neil Harris revealed he could strengthen in a number of different positions.
Harris’ priority is likely to be a striker to replace the injured Tom Bradshaw, but he said the recruitment team are looking at players from “one to eleven”.
Millwall bolstered their squad last January by signing Ben Marshall, Tim Cahill, Jason Shackell and Harry Toffolo.
Injuries have stretched Harris’ options this season, with the next transfer window likely to see reinforcements added.
“We’re looking at players that will improve us as a squad, not just strikers but one-eleven to try to make us a better group to try to give us that injection, that boost that we had last January,” Harris said. “We want to do that again, it’s just as important this year as last year.
“Trying to attract players in January is very difficult. You’ve got players who are not fit, like when Marshy came to us he hadn’t been playing, we had to build him up over a three-week period before he got his chance.
“Timmy came in from out of the country, hadn’t played for a month. Jason Shackell had only played in the cup. You take a risk with players bringing them in.
“Or you bring players in and you completely over-pay – I think you can rule out that one for us.
“We’ve made it work in the past but we’re looking at a pool of players that’s quite small. The pool of players that are available today will be completely different to who’s available on January 2. That’s something I’ve learnt over the last couple of years.
“We can chase players now but come January 2 they might have played three games over Christmas and done really well.
“We have been close to bringing in Championship players on loan or permanently who were nowhere near the team before suddenly being in team of the week in the Championship. That’s how quickly the game can change.
“We are continuously scouring the market to see who’s available or who might be interested in coming. We’re speaking to clubs, speaking to agents but the reality is the availability of those players could change dramatically.
“We are mindful of that. Nailing down who exactly we want to get, we won’t do that today.
“As we’ve seen in the past, we have to be patient.”
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