Steve Evans on what stopped Sam Clucas staying at Rotherham United

The boss is an admirer of the former Premier League midfielder who made 33 appearances in last season's Championship relegation campaign before becoming one of a number of high-profile players to exit AESSEAL New York Stadium.

However, he knew that, with the club dropping down a division, the wage expectations of the former Swansea City man would have been too big a hurdle to overcome.

“Sam's a good player,” Evans said. “Finances precluded us wanting to do something with him. Some of the boys who left the club were on contracts that couldn't have been possible in League One.

“If I'd have gone to the board and asked them to sanction one or two, they would have done it, but we've tried to keep a ‘medium’ in the dressing room.”

Thirty-four-year-old Clucas returned to football last week when he signed for National League Oldham Athletic.

“We never made him an offer,” Evans said. “It would have been a long, long way away from where Sam was. There's a different level of funding in the Championship.”

The Millers brought in 14 new faces in the summer and their playing budget is believed to be the biggest it's ever been at third-tier level.

Evans took the hot-seat when only three matches remained last term following the reigns of Matt Taylor and Leam Richardson and says he found Clucas a valuable source of information.

“We talked towards the end of the season,” the manager said. “It was an honest and forthright chat about the previous 12 months here – how he found it, the professionalism, what went right and what went wrong. Sam had a lot to tell us and it's proved beneficial going forward.”

Clucas made his debut in Oldham's 2-1 FA Cup win at League Two Tranmere Rovers last Saturday.

“Micky Mellon (Oldham manager) knows a player,” Evans said. “He's got a proper footballer in Sam.”