Notts County manager Stuart Maynard has revealed the club are close to bringing in some fresh faces ahead of tomorrow’s transfer deadline.
It’s been an exceptionally busy window at Meadow Lane. There has already been 11 arrivals through the door, whilst talisman Macaulay Langstaff boosted the coffers by joining Championship outfit Millwall.
With adjustments made to the squad, it’s been a steady start for the Magpies. Two successive draws opened the campaign before they hit their stride last weekend with a dominant 4-1 win over Grimsby Town.
Although they sit in tenth after three games, it is expected to be an exceptionally tight League Two this season and they are currently just two points off early pacesetters Gillingham. As such, the next 24 hours could prove crucial to their promotion hopes.
They travel to Swindon Town on Saturday hoping one of two new faces could be on board. The East Midlands-based side have been linked to Tottenham Hotspur’s under-21 captain George Abbott as the Premier League side look to hand the midfielder his first taste of regular senior football.
Although no names were mentioned, Maynard confirmed that the club are working on deals ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s game, via Pride of Nottingham, he said:
“Look, we’ve been active for the last month. We’ve been trying to make deals happen. We’re getting very close to getting a couple (of signings) through the door, which is good for us. So yeah, it’s busy, busy times. It always is at this time of the year.
“If we can get done what we want, we’ll be very happy.”
The 43-year-old revealed that he is happy with the business they have done so far, praising the club for getting deals done early:
“I think we got a lot of our business done very early. We were very aggressive in the market. We knew what we needed to strengthen, and I think we got it in the building.
“We don’t just want to add players that are not going to have an impact within the squad.
“We want to make sure that we’ve got a hungry squad that are ready to compete. We need squad depth, and that’s why we’re hoping that we can add a couple more.”
With Langstaff having exited, it was inevitable that County would receive offers for other key stars, such as Jodi Jones and Dan Crowley. Maynard confirmed there has been interested parties:
“We have had (bids), and the club have rejected them. We don’t feel that it meets the valuation.
“We’re ambitious as a football club. We want to compete at the top end of this division, and that is the aim.”
Writer’s View
Notts County will feel that they have an excellent chance of promotion this season having seen the likes of Stockport County and Wrexham achieve success last season. It was a campaign which saw them capitulate in spectacular fashion, having sat in the top three until November before eventually finishing 14th.
Maynard knows that squad depth is a big difference maker in this division. Bringing in another couple of players would bring the total number of incomings to 13. They won’t gel instantly and they will make mistakes, but their business has been smart and few would bet against them finishing in the top seven.
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