Sheffield Wednesday identify transfer targets with early work as Darren Moore promises ‘no hesitation’

In conversation with The Star, Wednesday boss Darren Moore made clear that names have been identified and folders of information have been drawn up and added to throughout the last few months, with regular meetings held with the club’s recruitment team, headed up by David Downes.

Downes is understood to have been approached by Blackpool with regard to his future and though speaking last week Moore fell well short of confirming those reports, he did maintain that work already done at the club means a transition to life without their recruitment chief could be achieved smoothly should the former Aston Villa figure move on.

Moore’s focus is of course set on their play-off campaign, which begins at Peterborough United on Friday, but he is safe in the knowledge he will return to a solid base of work when attention turns to the summer transfer window.

“I’ve had my phone start to ring with agents and advisors touting players already,” Moore said on incoming traffic on the transfer front.

“Certainly I’ve refrained from it because our focus is on this season.

“It’s a funny time. There are small-term goals where you’re looking at the here and now, but you also have to look at the long-terms goals. Already our pre-season programme is done and we’re speaking to managers arranging games and so on.

“The recruitment team can do their job and our work in terms of the summer is in place. The chairman knows, the recruitment team knows, I know. It’s all in place and we have that parked; it’s not ad-hoc and we jump into it, it’s been consistent work across the course of the season.”

Wednesday were able to get a great deal of work done early doors last summer, moves it is felt has contributed to what has been a record-breaking campaign on several fronts.

And there is confidence on his part that the club will act in a similar manner this time out.

“We’ve moved a lot in terms of that recruitment side of things,” Moore said. “We were able to get in and do the work early last season because of the work already being done. It meant that when those players became available, we had no hesitation in moving really quickly and we’ve seen the rewards we’ve had from that this season.

“There’s all sorts [of analysis and information having been complete]; information, contact numbers of representatives, everything we need to know from video analysis of players, the details of them in terms of strengths and weaknesses, a breakdown of their game, injury records.

“It’s these things that are important when it comes to recruiting a player in.

“It’s important that the powers that be know all that and why we are pursuing this player and why any player will be right. Any player that comes here does so with the emphasis of taking the club forward, it has to be.”

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