And Baggies boss reveals extent to which he'd like to reshape squad in summer
STEVE Clarke has revealed he and his coaching staff spent part of the current 12-day break between games to check out potential summer transfer targets in Europe.The Baggies boss says planning for the next window has been well underway for months as he looks at reshaping his squad.
And he admits he could make up to five or six changes, with players going in both directions, ahead of the 2013/14 campaign.
“I went to another European country and watched a couple of matches,” said Clarke.
“I wanted to broaden my knowledge of the players available and possible targets for next season.
“Myself and my coaching staff have been out around Europe over the last three to four weeks trying to look at potential targets for next season.
“We saw some good games and a lot of good players.”
He added: “We have a well-organised scouting department and it is good for me that I can follow up recommendations from a really good scouting department that’s proved over the years they can find players.
“As we get towards the end of the season there is a possibility there will be three or four changes, four or five changes, or five or six changes - you never know what’s going to happen in the transfer market.
“We’ve had a really good season and maybe some bigger clubs will show an interest in some of the players we’ve got.
“We have to wait and see what happens.
“Our job is to make sure we have a number of targets ready to come in as and when we need to chase those targets.
“The summer window is a longer window and you find that most clubs tend to reshape their squad over that window rather than the January window, which is a bit of makeshift window where you try and make do and mend.”