HAVING kicked off his summer recruitment drive with the signing of Grant Hall last Friday, Neil Warnock is hoping to make at least one more addition to his Middlesbrough squad before the end of this week.

Boro have opened negotiations with their key targets, and while some pursuits have already fallen by the wayside, the club remain hopeful of reaching a successful resolution on a number of different fronts.

Northampton Town skipper Charlie Goode has been offered a move to the Riverside, while Warnock has also held discussions with two or three attacking options, including Wigan Athletic forward Kieffer Moore.

“We have to wait on certain things, but we’re trying to get players whenever we can,” said the Boro boss. “We’re trying to push it this week, and if I could get another one over the line this week, I’d be pleased.

“It’s going to be hard work over the next few weeks because there’s no let up. But I’d like three, maybe four, players in before the end of this month.”

Warnock is determined to strengthen down the spine of his squad, although he accepts improving his side’s attacking ranks could be difficult.

The Boro boss is working to a relatively limited budget, and will find it difficult to fund a big-money move for a striker unless record signing Britt Assombalonga moves on.

“I think strikers are going to be the most difficult because you’ve got to try to get better than what you have,” admitted Warnock. “Looking around the people that are available, for the price we can afford or on free transfers, there’s not many better than the two we’ve got.”

Warnock is already noticing a change in the transfer market in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and as a result, he expects player swap deals to be an important avenue clubs will look to explore this summer.

“I think it’s changing drastically,” he said. “I think clubs are more concerned with getting rid of players off the wage bill, and players they thought were valued at a certain level six months or a year ago are probably worthless now, or free transfers.

“There’s not a lot of money around, but clubs are still demanding figures for better players, or some of the ones you want.

“I think there’ll be a lot of player exchanges this year, and people coming off the wage bill to cut down on the big earners. It’ll be interesting.

“Even here, we’re not the highest payers in the league by any means now, but we still have to cut our cloth accordingly. That doesn’t bother me. We’ll try to get value for money, but at the same time, Steve (Gibson) knows I want to be successful. He’s doing the best he can to give me the tools to do that.”