New boys in before Germany tour, says Rotherham United boss Paul Warne

The Millers have ditched their usual haunt in Austria for a week-long camp in Barsinghausen between July 7 to 15 when they hope to play two friendly fixtures.

Manager Paul Warne, who expects a significant close-season shake-up of his squad, wants most of his new signings to be in place by then so the trip can be used as a bonding exercise.

"It's essential that we try and get the majority of our transfer work done prior to flying out," he said.

"I like to try and take the whole squad. The first year we went to Austria, the only two players we hadn't signed before we went were Josh Emmanuel and Kieffer Moore, but we signed them while we were there and they flew out.

"Last year we weren't far away from completing our business either so hopefully we'll have all that done this time.

"We're in the process of that now. We're trying to retain the (out-of-contract) players we want to and if we're not fortunate enough to do that then we'll have to replace them and get some fresh blood in."

Barsinghausen is around 20 kilometres from Hanover and fits the bill for Warne who hates the idea of 'holiday camp' destinations in the summer.

"Pre-season camps are essential to us," he said. “We work really hard in pre-season and we get everything we possibly can into the players in terms of fitness and information.

"I didn't want to go back to the same camp in Austria because a few of my players have been here for both of those tours, so I needed something different.

"I didn't want to go anywhere particularly glamorous like Portugal or Spain because it always sounds more like a holiday. It definitely isn't."

Players can expect the same 7am hill runs and three physical sessions a day which have characterised previous trips abroad under Warne.

"We're going to the heart of Germany and we'll try and get a couple of games against German teams," the boss said.

"I've always looked at the Bundesliga 2 or 3 as a potential source for players, so it will be good to actually play against them to see how they compare to our team."

The Millers' retained list is expected to be announced this week.