Danny Cowley has admitted he’ll be turning to the loan market in order to bolster Lincoln’s attack this summer, with his budget close to being spent.
The Imps haven’t been overly active in the transfer market, adding just Jack Payne, Joe Morrell and Jorge Grant to their ranks but as the Lincolnshire Echo reports, they do need a number nine.
Currently, they have Matt Rhead and John Akinde as the only recognised strikers on their books, something the former PE teacher admits he has to address.
“Number nine is the most expensive position on the pitch and we know that we haven’t quite got the finances, so we’ve got to try and be clever about how we use that position,” said Cowley.
“We’ll try to use the loan market wisely and we’d like someone who gives us something different to what we already have.”
Lincoln have used the loan market wisely in the past, giving the likes of Shay McCartan, Danny Rowe and MarkO’Haraa a stage on which to perform and Cowley is hoping that will encourage clubs to entrust their young talent to him.
“What we can do though is try to encourage those players and hope that they would like to come here – that might push us further up the chain. We have some good relationships with other clubs who respect that we provide players with a good environment and culture for them to develop.
“We hope that these clubs take a long term view and send players to us. If they do, we will look after them the very best we can.”
Lincoln are embarking on their first season in the third tier for twenty years following their title win last time out.
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Cowley likes to operate on a small squad, squeezing every last bit of value out of the loan market. Rowe, O’Hara and McCartan all played a key role for the Imps last season and that underlines how well Cowley manages players.
He’s also been entrusted with the development of Jorge Grant, Forest accepting a lower fee with clauses built-in which will pay out if he’s successful. That level of trust is sure to be something Cowley relies on over the coming weeks.
