Ferguson targets summer transfer ‘bargains’

The Sky Blues boss believes there will be “bargains” to be had as the summer progresses as players struggle to find new employers as teams in the Danske Bank Premiership tighten their belts to meet the Irish FA’s criteria on expenditure.

Even at this early stage Ballymena’s wage budget for next year has been all but spent, with the vast majority of last season’s squad having signed up for the coming campaign.

“When you look at the number of players who have left the likes of Linfield and Portadown, and to a lesser extent other clubs, a lot of those players haven’t found new clubs yet.

“There have been a lot of clubs releasing players but not many signing players so far.

“With more players leaving clubs than there are joining clubs, there is going to be a surplus of players and if some of them are holding out for big money then I think they are going to be disappointed.

“If they want to continue to play at the top level they are going to have to be prepared to accept less money - there’s no point in them holding out for money which is beyond clubs’ budgets.

“I believe there might well be a few ‘bargains’ by the middle of the summer and we will continue to monitor that to see if we can fit any players into our wage structure. If that doesn’t happen then we will make do with the hand we’ve been dealt and get on with it,” added Ferguson. More United news - P59.