Permanent deals 'agreed in principle' with two Doncaster Rovers targets

Chief executive Gavin Baldwin confirmed deals have been agreed in principle with the pair, with both having been told they are free to move on by their current employers this month.

But both still need to finalise agreements that will allow them to do so.

With time of the essence in the transfer window, Rovers have set cut off points for the potential signings and will move onto other targets if they are not met.

On the type of business Rovers are looking to do, Baldwin told the Free Press: “We’ve options on the table, there are the two permanents and other options on top of that.

“We’ve done the deals with the players and their agents but those players are relying on their clubs releasing them.

“They may have been previously told by the club that they would be released and should find another club, but the club has still got to release them,

“We’ve learned from last year with the striker situation and we’ve set these players deadlines to get out of their clubs.

“If they don’t do that then we’ll have to move on.

“We’ll have to be brave to move on from that deadline because it’d be so easy to give it another 24 hours and then another.”

It is understood that Rovers are hoping to add two loan players to the squad this month as well as another signing beyond the two permanent deals currently on the table.

Baldwin previously stated that substantial funds had been made available for the transfer window.

Adding context to that, he explained the pot of money had been determined by Gary McSheffrey’s ideal list of targets this month.

“We have reverse engineered it,” Baldwin said.

“Gary has said ‘these are players I want.’

“We’ve gone to the players and their agents and negotiated and can afford those players.

“My definition of substantial funds is that we can afford the players that Gary feels will give us best chance to stay up.

“There’s a pot of money and if Gary had said he needed £100,000 a week, it’d have been a different conversation.

“But the conversations dovetailed into the answer that we can go and get those players Gary wants.”

Baldwin admitted he has sympathy with supporters who have been frustrated with the lack of transfer business in the opening week of the window.

“It’s hard at the moment not to jump in to be seen to be bringing players in because it would be seen as relieving a bit of pressure,” Baldwin said.

“From my point of view, driving into work, I’m desperate to make a signing.

“But Gary is adamant that we have to give ourselves the right time to get the right players in and he’s happy with the deadlines that have been set. If we don’t hit those deadlines then we move on.

“We could have bought three or four players last week, and it may have been a relief to get them in. But if they’re not the right players and they’re here for the next two and a half years it’s a weak decision.

“Gary is urging that we’re brave, wait for the deadline, see what happens and review the situation from then, as other options are available.

“Our job is to take the emotion out of it and do the right thing by the club, this season and the longer term.”

Baldwin described the current state of the transfer window as slow, largely due to a surge in cases of Covid-19 in the game.

“My concern is with Covid that clubs are not letting players out,” he said.

“One of the players was clearly told he could go and now that club has got Covid and they’re keeping him in until it clears.

“It’s causing all sorts of problems. Clubs are trying to retain bigger squads in case they get Covid and the EFL forces them to play.

“It is making it tougher.”

*

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Liam Hoden, editor.