Dundee will have “signings soon” says Dens chief John Nelms.
The Dark Blues unveiled their new management team this week in the shape of head coach Steven Pressley and technical manager David Longwell.
And summer recruitment is top of the to-do list at Dens Park.
With only 12 players signed for the new season, the Dark Blues have a squad rebuild ahead of them.
Courier Sport revealed on Wednesday that club captain Joe Shaughnessy had been offered a new deal while two others are in talks over contract extensions.
And earlier in the week that Drey Wright is set to join the Dark Blues from Tayside rivals St Johnstone.
There is far more business to be done, however, with Nelms revealing a huge number of targets being looked at.
“The recruitment hasn’t stopped at all. We’ve got Billy [Kirkwood], Gordon [Strachan], Dave [Longwell], got the boys down south working with us.
“That has not stopped.
“This morning [Tuesday], we have 68 candidates for the positions that we have available.
“There will be some signings here soon.
“With current players we are negotiating with three other players on top of that as we speak here today.
“The recruitment process every year is daunting. At Dundee we always have these a turnover of players and it’s something that we have to do to refresh the team each year.
“We have a standard of player that we want to bring to the club and we’re working diligently in order to do so.”
‘Bright future’
Also high on the agenda is developing the talents they already have at their disposal at Dens Park.
The new philosophy at the club is to focus on individual player development with the idea a stronger team will emerge as a result.
Technical manager Longwell’s remit will be to help out coaching with the first team but also bringing an individual focus to players in need of special attention.
Scotland U/21 talent Luke Graham was namechecked by Nelms as one they are specifically looking at.
“With the players coming through, I use Luke Graham as an example,” Nelms added.
“Luke Graham has a bright future in front of him and we need to be giving him all the attention and all the tools we possibly can for him to have a long and successful career.
“You have the likes of Billy Koumetio and all the guys, we can really instill and install as much professional football and as much understanding of the game as we can.”
