NEIL WARNOCK would be willing to listen to offers for every member of his Middlesbrough squad if it increased his chances of being able to make improvements before the end of the transfer window.

Having started his restructuring programme with the signing of Grant Hall last week, Warnock intends to make at least another “four or five” additions this summer.

He is hoping to have tied up one more deal by the end of the week, with Northampton Town skipper Charlie Goode currently considering the offer of a move to the Riverside, but accepts there may be a need to “wheel and deal” in order to enact more significant changes.

The likes of Dael Fry and Britt Assombalonga have been linked with potential moves away this summer, while promising full-back Djed Spence is known to be interesting a number of Premier League clubs, and while Warnock would ideally like to keep his most influential players, he accepts there will be a point where it might be best to cash in.

“People will always look at your squad and think, ‘Well he might be surplus, or he might be surplus’,” said the Boro boss. “The phone calls are coming in all the time asking, ‘Would you let him go?’ Then if you say yes, you can guarantee they’ll tell somebody else that he might be available. It’s how it happens in football.

“There’s nobody at the club really that I wouldn’t sell. If the right offer came in, that’s what it’s like at the moment in football. You’ve just got to make sure you have replacements if there are anybody that go, and that’s what we’re looking at.

“Right up to the kick-off you just don’t know – normally, the day before the season starts, you get a phone call about one of your players. Other clubs and managers will have lists, and some of my players will be on those lists, but they might not be number one, two or three.”

Warnock is spreading his net far and wide when it comes to identifying potential targets, with Premier League loans one avenue that is being seriously considered.

Boro have already approached a couple of top-flight clubs about youngsters who might be available on a temporary basis, but at this stage, most Premier League sides are wanting to wait to see how their own transfer business develops before making decisions on whether to allow players to leave.

“We’ve identified three or maybe four lads in the Premier League that are very interesting in terms of maybe getting them on loan, but we’ve already been told on one of them, probably our number one choice, that they won’t be making a decision until after the 24th of August,” said Warnock. “That’s obviously not ideal. It is nice to have your own players, but loans can be important.”

Warnock has held a number of meetings with Boro’s recruitment team, both during his initial short-term stay last season and since his permanent appointment was confirmed last week.

He is impressed at the scale of Boro’s recruitment operation, but has already identified issues that perhaps help explain why the club’s signing record has been so hit and miss in recent years.

“We have good people doing good jobs in recruitment – full-time as well, and I’ve never experienced that before with so many full-time people on recruitment – but at the end of the day, what they might think are the attributes of a defender, I might not,” said Warnock.

“We had a disagreement last week. The stats showed these two players were the best in Europe at defending against one-versus-ones, but within 20 seconds of seeing each one, I said, ‘I’m sorry, but they can’t defend’. Stats can be misleading, although they do help you to lower the numbers because every agent is pushing their players at the moment.

“The recruitment guys are looking at all the players we’ve been recommended, and then putting them into categories of what we’re looking for. I think now we’re getting to know each other and what we want.

“The other day, we were working together from ten in the morning to half past seven at night. We eliminated quite a lot and got a shortlist of defenders we’re looking at and midfield players we’re looking at, and we’ve got to push on with that now.”