CHRIS Waddle was today expected to discover the depth of his fighting fund for next season.

Waddle and assistant manager Glenn Roeder were due to meet Burnley chairman Frank Teasdale to discuss plans for the 1998/99 campaign.

Talks between the parties earlier this week were taken up by discussions over players' contracts and so Waddle was hoping to hear today what might be available to him for team strengthening.

"I don't know the situation on the transfer front with money. As I have said before John Mullin would be a target if we get the money available and others will depend on who leaves," said the Burnley player-boss.

"Some might leave where we have got enough cover but if I think we are short of cover I will get someone in."

Apart from Waddle's long-standing interest in Sunderland striker Mullin, who has also expressed his desire to return to the club, the manager is likely to step up his recruitment drive when it becomes apparent which players will accept new contract offers.

Regular first-teamers Gerry Harrison, Damian Matthew, Mark Winstanley and Chris Woods, along with Jamie Hoyland and Chris Vinnicombe, are free to move on if they are not happy with the deals put to them this week.

And Paul Weller is also out of contract, although he would command a fee if he decided not to accept the offer of a new three-year deal. With the Bosman ruling taking effect at this level for the first time this summer a number of those players may well be talking with other clubs to see what alternative offers they attract. The contract figures put to some of the players did not go down well and it remains to be seen if they think they will be better off elsewhere in what is sure to be an overcrowded transfer market, or if Wednesday's initial talks merely trigger off a game of cat and mouse.

It will be interesting to see the level of spending power Waddle is given with the takeover of the Peter Shackleton-led consortium close to being completed and new money ready to come into the club.

The takeover is sure to figure in the discussions between board and management as both parties plan for what they hope will be a promotion push rather than a fight against relegation next season.

"Nobody knows what's round the corner," added Waddle. "They probably want certain things to change and so do we. I am going in open-minded."

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