Ince to give Blackburn chairman list of summer targets

10:00am Wednesday 2nd July 2008

Comments (5)   Have your say »

PAUL Ince is planning to freshen up his squad by making at least two new signings before the transfer window slams shut at the end of next month.

The newly-installed Blackburn chief will present a list of summer targets to chairman John Williams when he returns from a holiday abroad tomorrow.

But, although the 40-year-old is hoping to have a couple of new faces on board before the season starts on August 16, he still intends to give every member of the existing squad a chance to prove themselves first, before he makes his first moves in the market.

Speaking exclusively to the Lancashire Telegraph, Ince said: “It’s important for me to take stock of the squad when the players return for pre-season training on July 7, and then we can go from there.

“Obviously, I’d like to bring in one or two new acquisitions because that would help to freshen things up, which I feel is important.

“I’ve been making plenty of phonecalls and following up various leads but, at this moment in time, there’s nothing concrete to report.”

Barely a week after being installed as the successor to Mark Hughes, Ince has already been linked with several targets who were previously on Hughes’ radar - namely the Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley, and the Turkish winger Ugur Boral.

However, the former MK Dons boss has his own ideas on which direction he intends to take the club, and neither man is thought to figure prominently in Ince’s thinking at this stage.

One man who does look Ewood bound though is Archie Knox, who is likely to be unveiled as Ince’s first-team coach on Monday, when pre-season training starts in earnest at Brockhall.