"We've got one offer that's agreed" - Town boss Millington on new signings, recruitment and next season's squad

The Shaymen are yet to announce any new signings so far this summer but did confirm their retained list over the weekend, with Tom Clarke, Jordan Keane, Luke Summerfield, Tylor Golden, Angelo Cappello, Milli Alli, Jamie Cooke, Rob Harker, Jack Hunter and Jamie Stott all part of next season's squad.

"We're discussing what we've got available with a lot of players," said Millington when asked how negotiations were going with potential new signings.

"We've got one offer that's agreed and in the process of having the paperwork done, and two firm offers have been put out to players.

"There's certain positions, certain areas of the pitch where we need more support, but we're going to need players pretty much across the board.

"It's a variety of players, a variety of ages and levels of experience."

When asked how many new signings he thinks there will be, the Halifax boss said: "We're still in negotiations with a couple of existing players to re-sign so it is dependent on that.

"But you're talking somewhere in the region of six to eight new players coming in the building."

Millington was away on holiday last week but Town's recruitment drive is now in overdrive.

"I managed to get a few days away last week but that's done and dusted now," he said.

"It's now about speaking to agents and players, I'll be meeting with the chairman, then I'm meeting with Gareth McClelland, our had of recruitment, and Andy Cooper, who's back from a week away.

"We've got to narrow-focus our energies on a couple of positions that we want to fill as soon as possible.

"Once we've got those two positions nailed down, then we can relax a bit because we've got a decent cover across the pitch and we can really look at where we need to strengthen and where we might want to bring in players who can develop into regular starters over a longer period."

Millington expects the vast majority of his squad to be made up of contracted players.

"There is one interesting loan option I've got on the table which would definitely be of interest," he said.

"So I might break from tradition and bring one in if we could secure a season-long loan for him.

"There may be a benefit to bringing in a loan player who would be a replacement for Festus in the short-term until he's back fit, but we're undecided as to whether that's necessary as yet.

"We'll decide that closer to the start of the season."

Millington says it would be ideal if he was working with a squad of 16 to 18 players at the start of pre-season, and wants a squad of 20 once the campaign begins.

"We've got to remain flexible on that though because every close season we lose players, so we've got to be prepared to bring in younger players on longer contracts who will potentially develop over the course of the season with a view to being ready to start as a regular in the National League, or hopefully League Two, the following season," he said.

"We've got to have that long-term vision, so sometimes that might require us taking an extra body or two."

Millington says his playing budget is the same as he's worked with previously, and that he is focused on trying to maximise that in every way he can.

"It gets tougher and tougher every year," he said. "We're hearing some crazy offers being made by what, historically, would be considered lower paying clubs.

"They're paying money that I think in most cases is probably unnecessary.

"But that's not something we're looking to do. We want to make sure that the club is run on a sustainable basis, not one that would put the club at any financial risk.

"We know we can do that. We've got a core of a really solid group of players ready to start the National League.

"We're going to add to that and we will be competitive this season on a really sensible budget."

On the progress made so far in reshaping his squad, Millington said: "You always want to have it done, but realistically, what we've got to do is make sure that we've got that core of players ready to start pre-season who we know would be a real solid group of players to start the National League with.

"We know that as pre-season goes on, players will drop closer to our budget and be looking at us as a more viable financial prospect, so we do have to be patient and realistic in that sense.

"I always want to be ahead of where we're at so I have to curb that a little bit and, in all honesty, we're where we should be right now for this stage of the close season."

Read more from the Town boss on the Courier website tomorrow.