Rotherham United trio edge closer to signing as club sounds out summer targets

Strikers Josh Kayode and Ciaran McGuckin and midfielder Hamish Douglas have deals on the table, as does Humphreys, who stacked up 46 appearances last season.

Manager Matt Hamshaw sees potential in youth products McGuckin (21) and Douglas (19) and has indicated the terms offered to Kayode would be “heavily incentivised” given his injury frustrations.

The retention of Humphreys would be a boost due to his quality and the recent departure of Player of the Year Hakeem Odoffin.

“The talks have generally been encouraging,” Hamshaw told the Advertiser. "The two younger ones have progressed and I am quietly confident on those two and Josh. We’re still waiting on Cam Humphreys and I’m going to speak to him when I get back off holiday.

"As soon as I know, the fans will know.”

Rotherham had a burst of early transfer activity last summer under Steve Evans. This year things have been quieter and Hamshaw is willing to bide his time to bring in the people who can help atone for an underwhelming season in League One.

"We have spoken to a number of players but everything is slow and will remain so until next month,” he said.

"If you ‘go’ at this stage then you are probably over-paying. A lot of clubs haven’t moved. I’ve spoken to a number of managers and they’re all kind of saying the same thing.

“You always want ‘yesses’ straight away but I have been doing it long enough now to appreciate that doesn’t happen. Players tend to either get your offer and take it everywhere else or they just want to sit on things and see what develops.

"At the same time there comes a point in the summer where people start panicking, everything drops off the other end and then you get a player who thought he might potentially get X amount for a little bit less or vice versa.”

Two months into his role, Hamshaw is working towards finalising his coaching team and the appointment of a no.2 isn't far away. Long-time favourite Richard Wood returned as first team coach last week.