A 20-goal-a-season striker is one of Stuart Gray’s priorities as he starts to plan for next season.
Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield, the head coach revealed that he had already had a planning meeting with Milan Mandaric and that the chairman knows the players Gray would like to bring to S6.
He said there will be a follow-up meet with Mandaric and chief executive, Paul Aldridge, to discuss the budget available and he will then move forward from there.
Gray said: “I want players with leadership qualities … winners … people who can play Saturday/Tuesday/Saturday and who can give me consistency.”
He added that he would like to have the squad in place for when they return to training on July 1 and, while he realised it was unlikely everything would be in place for then, at the same time the squad would definitely be fit and ready for Championship action on August 9.
Gray said: “I want to improve on our start to this season – which was not acceptable.”
Expanding on transfer targets, Gray said one addition we do need is a 20-goal striker. Talking about a possible move for Hull City’s Matty Fryatt, he said the player will have to decide whether he wants regular first team football or possibly be a bit-part player with City and, whatever the outcome, Gray says he has other players he wants to consider.
Looking towards pre-season, the head coach said Wednesday are likely to play at Nigel Worthington’s York City and at Bury – with the hope of a big name attraction to come to Hillsborough.
He also indicated that the club will go away on a pre-season tour and some reports have indicated this could be to Slovenia.