Jim Goodwin admits he’s targeting a completely new XI for Dundee United when they make their Scottish Premiership return next month.
The Arabs have already signed six new players this summer ahead of their jump back to the top flight. They earned promotion from the Championship with a title triumph in April.
So far, Jack Walton, Dave Richards, Will Ferry, Vicko Sevelj, Ryan Strain and Kristijan Trapanovski have all joined at Tannadice as Goodwin reshapes his first-team squad.
The Irishman has revealed that talks are ongoing with a further four targets who have been identified, with the aim to bring in a further four or five additions to strengthen his team.
“We have made some good signings,” Goodwin said. “The capture of Ryan Strain is a real coup. Vicko has looked brilliant in the couple of weeks he has been training. He is exactly what we thought we were going to get. I am delighted to bring Jack Walton back into the mix and Will Ferry was one we did reasonably early.
"People tend to forget that when you have done business early. We are in good shape but there is still a lot of work to do. We need to add four or possibly five new faces.”
Goodwin isn’t just looking to make up numbers. He wants to add more quality right across his squad to strengthen his defence, midfielder and attack. The Dundee United boss wants another couple of players in the centre of the park and another frontman to give his side a bit more firepower.
He explained: “We need to strengthen the middle of the park. We have Craig Sibbald and Ross Docherty in there, who wold be regular senior players. We need to strengthen that area and we also need to strengthen the top end of the pitch with more options.
“The recognised strikers we have are Tony (Watt) and Louis (Moult). They are experienced and Rory MacLeod has had a good pre-season and Owen Stirton is doing well but we do need to add a bit more experience in that area of the pitch. We are looking at least another three attacking options. Once we get two more midfielders that might leave a bit of scope for another defensive option.”
The United boss is well aware of the targets he wants but has had to show a degree of patience. Goodwin confirmed he is in talks with four players just now and is hoping to get them over the line.
He added: “We are talking to another four players at the moment, in different positions. These things are ongoing.
“Some deals are quicker in happening than others. We have done a lot of business and other clubs have been relatively quiet. There hasn’t been a lot of movement across the league. Given our predicament and the players we lost last season then there was a big turnover. We had to make sure we were proactive and we have shown that.”
