Four poised to sign for Latics

Athletic manager Dave Penney says agreement has been reached to bring in four more new players.

ATHLETIC are close to completing the signings of four new players as their plans for the 2009/10 season move into overdrive.

Manager Dave Penney’s persuasive skills and tireless work this week has been rewarded with progress made on the transfer front.

He said: “Bids for four players have been agreed with their agents and hopefully they will be completed next week once they return from holiday.”

Penney will not name his targets until they have actually put pen to paper but said: “Once those four join Rob Purdie and Jon Worthington in signing you will see the squad gradually taking shape.”

That will take the number of new signings to six, but Penney reckons that won’t be the end of the transfer activity as nine players left the club before the summer break.

Penney added that there will be a couple more to come in, while further down the line there is the option of bringing in loan players.

He continued: “Clubs are not going to be making decisions about loaning players at this stage.

“They will probably wait until a couple of weeks after pre-season training has started when they start to finalise which players will feature.”

Penney is a fan of the loan system, pointing out while managing Darlington he borrowed David Wheater from Middlesbrough. That loan was a success for both parties as, 18 months later, Wheater had established a regular first-team place back at the Riverside and also forced his way into the England squad.

Penney reassured fans there is nothing to worry about, despite the lack of signings so far.

He continued: “There is no need to panic as there are still two-and-a-half weeks before pre-season training starts.

“Most players are still looking around for the best deals. But with pre-season beckoning they will want to get fixed up so there will be a lot more activity from this point.”

Penney says that he is speaking to players and agents on a daily basis and it is a case of identifying the best available and then seeing whether they are affordable.