With us now being in December and the transfer window opening next month, I thought it was worth revisiting this to try and get a steer on what we might do in January.
As explained previously the squad is capped at 22 players aged 21+ this season, but if we're still in League One next season this drops to 20 players and we'll obviously have to have this in mind when wheeling and dealing.
We currently have 21 players, deliberately leaving a space for an emergency keeper loan if Maxwell gets injured (which doesn't say much for Sims or Fojticek!).
Keepers: Starting with the keepers, Maxwell is contracted until summer 2022 with a year's option. After him it gets interesting. Sims is the de facto #2 and currently counts as both a homegrown player I believe (you have to have one of these in your match day squad) and a U21 player. However, next season he'll be classed as over 21 and given that we've left a spot spare for an emergency keeper it suggests to me he'll be gone in the summer. Fojticek's contract runs until the summer with a year's option. He's currently classed as a U21 player and will remain so next season. On that basis I think we'll take up his option (unless he shits the bed in the meantime) and have him as third choice keeper again. Suspect we'll look to bring in a keeper to challenge Maxwell next summer, and in all likelihood they'll be 21+.
Left backs: Garbutt is on a one year deal with no option. He obviously needs a run of games before we can make a judgement, but I like him for his set pieces alone. I think we'll hoping he proves to be the answer in this position. Husband's contract also expires this summer (with no option). He looked dead and buried after his two red cards, but has had a run in the side at left back again and is currently preferred to Mitchell. I think he'll need to play phenomenally well to keep Garbutt out long term though and earn a new deal, particularly as he's on good money. In all likelihood he's gone in the summer. Mitchell has a contract until summer 2022 with a year's option. That leaves Callum Macdonald, who will be a goner in the summer.
Right back: Turton is out of contract in the summer with no option. I think he's played well this season, and this is backed up by him keeping Gabriel out of the side. Could his form + his versatility get him another year? I think so. Gabriel is obviously on loan and is on a long term contract at Forest so won't be here next year. That leaves Howe. He's actually under contract until summer 2022 with a year's option incredibly! I think a loan departure beckons in January, followed by either a season long loan or a permanent departure in the summer. If we do manage to get him off the books in January, it would create an additional squad spot.
Centre backs: We need to try and find out when Ballard's contract with Arsenal runs to. If it expires soon we should be going all out to sign him permanently. If that isn't an option then we need to ensure that we secure him on loan for the remainder of this season. For info, he currently counts as a U21 player but would be 21+ next season, so if we did sign him permanently you're probably looking at an U21 centre half as your fourth centre half next season. Ekpiteta and Gretarsson both have contracts until summer 2022 with a year's option. So too does Jordan Thorniley, but I think he's in exactly the same boat as Howe. Presuming we can extend Ballard and potentially add another centre half, I think he's a goner in January. That would also create an additional squad space.
Central midfield: Dougall has a contract until summer 2022, as does Virtue. Robson has a contract until 2022 with a year's option. Williams has a contract until this summer with a year's option, but the cap of 20 players put him at real risk of being released this summer (whether we play with 2 or 3 central midfielders) - particularly if Antwi continues to develop. Anderson has a contract until summer 2022 with a year's option, as does Sarkic. However, there's very possibly a question mark over Sarkic beyond next summer depending on what we do with Grant Ward. Ward's contract runs until this summer, but he does have a year's option. Surely you can't carry six central midfielders when you're capped at 20 players? (Antwi will continue to be a U21 next season). Garrity and Devitt will both be goners. Woodburn is obviously a loan until January. And then there's young Rob Apter who counts as both homegrown and U21.
Wide midfielders: Kaikai's contract runs until the summer with a year's option, which I suspect we'll take. Lubala has a three year deal with a year's option. Switching to the other side, Hamilton has the same contract term as Lubala. Kemp is on a season long loan, so I'll imagine we'll look to add cover for Hamilton next summer. You then have Nathan Shaw who's obviously homegrown and will still count as a U21 player next season. His contract runs until the summer with a year's option, which I suspect we'll take given his ability to play in several positions. Feeney is a goner.
Forwards: Yates has a three year deal with a year's option. Madine is out of contract at the end of the season. He's on big money but if he maintains his current form I can see us offering him a new deal - you don't get many strikers like him these days. Nuttall, Hardie and Yussuf are all goners.
If we do offload Howe and Thorniley in January (and extend Ballard and Woodburn's loans), that'll leave us with 19 players against a cap of 22 (20 next season presuming we don't get promoted). I suspect the priorities would then be a forward and a centre half (to replace Thorniley).
Then looking forward to next season, based on the players already under contract for 2021/22 (not including anyone who's a goner), we'd already have 12/20 spots filled which would look like this (this would increase to 14/20 if we took up Ward's and Kaikai's options):
Maxwell
Mitchell
Ekpiteta
Gretarsson
Dougall
Robson
Virtue
Anderson
Sarkic
Lubala
Hamilton
Yates