This week, Shaun Maloney will put in more effort to begin Wigan Athletic’s summer hiring process.
After letting go of five key members of his starting lineup and having seven more loan players return to their parent teams, the Latics manager will be extremely busy come off-season.
In addition, he wants to get Jordan Jones, Jason Kerr, Callum McManaman, and Harry McHugh to sign new contracts.
Maloney is aware that time is truly running out, though, as the number of potential hires this summer is almost guaranteed to reach double digits once more.
“We’ve been working on this window for a while,” he stated. “A lot of labor-intensive work is done quietly and behind the scenes.
“After Stephen Gormal took over as head of recruitment, I believe we had an excellent January window. He’s another one of those guys who just goes about his work with the least amount of fuss.
“He has an excellent work ethic, and he has been concentrating on this summer window since almost the beginning of February. I have a lot of plans and desire to have a lot of profiles on our team.
“Ideally, we’ll be looking to be more specific and bring in fewer and fewer players with each window that passes. We’ll be working extremely hard again during this window, but that’s okay because that’s where we are.
“I’m very clear about the type of profile we’ll need to play the way we have been playing these past few games, which will help us improve even further.
“We won’t be at the top in terms of size or budget, and we’ll be young.” However, I’d prefer to place higher in the league and place among the top six.
Although our budget forbids it, I think we can surpass our goals if we play a certain way and we get the right recruitment.
“We’ve got a really good head of recruitment, and I trust the work he is doing and will continue to do.”
The lifting of Latics’ transfer embargo, which kept them from paying out even nominal fees in the previous two windows, will also help the team.
“I don’t want to shout from the rooftops, but we’ve got three or four offers already in for players, and I expect the same amount again this week,” said Maloney.
“Our head of recruitment and I haven’t started our holidays yet. We need to get things done quickly because pre-season is fully booked and has been for several weeks.
“I want as many of the new signings to train with us from day one of preseason…it’s a laborious task, but perhaps we can take a break once we’ve welcomed a few players.
“I think something special can happen next season if we can bring in the right players, if I can manage it better, and if I can develop tactically as a manager.”
The second phase of the club’s gradual construction is underway. Something extraordinary can occur if we all work together and get this right.”
