More on KentOnline
Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb has revealed there’s only one more space up for grabs in his squad.
The Fleet have been unveiling their summer recruits this week as they prepare for life in the National League with defender Jack Wakely and experienced midfielder Ouss Cisse already on board.
The signing of former Walsall full-back Hayden White was announced on Tuesday and forward David Amoo, who spent last season at Stevenage and Crewe, on Wednesday. Once all the signings in place have been confirmed, the Fleet boss is only looking for one more new face as things stand.
“It's a bit similar to last season,” said Kutrieb, speaking earlier in the week. “We’re more or less done but we’re keeping our eyes open for one more signing because it should be the right signing. We didn’t want to rush that decision because it’s important for us.
“We have space for one more at this moment in time although that can obviously change every single day.
“We have 23 players, and 24 with Rakish Bingham, so if I say we have one more spot left that would be 25. From this point of view, I’m in a very good position.
“We’ve started pre-season with a nearly full squad, we’ve got one option open.
“There are many other leagues where players try to get in and that might open things up as soon as squads are getting fuller and players can see that there’s nothing for them, they might drop and try to find something in the National League.
“We’ll keep our eyes open and wait to make the right call. We have so many players on the table, they’re very good players, but sometimes it’s not the right timing to make it early enough as we’ve done that with five other players already.
“At this moment in time there’s no one on the table where I say I definitely sign him if I don’t find my target (as with Toby Edser last season) but there are a few where I would say it could make sense to have him in training for a week to see how he reacts within the group. We haven’t made a decision at this moment in time on that.”
The Fleet boss has also stated that the plan is for their summer signings to all push for a starting place on the opening day of the season.
Wakely is a young centre-back who played seven games on loan at Maidenhead at the end of last season. Kutrieb is hoping he can get up to speed with what he wants from his players.
“On paper what we have done with all the signings is we’ve tried to sign potential starters, every player that we’ve signed is a potential starter,” explained Kutrieb.
“What I expect and what I will see, we will see if that matches or not. But if Jack is able to deliver what we think he is able to deliver, then he is a strong option to be able to start from the first game of the season.
“What we don’t say is we give him until Christmas and he can settle in and then he can make an impact, maybe. Every single signing we’ve made is, for us, a strong potential starter for the first game of the season.
“The answer will be for everyone the same, every single new signing you see, remind yourself of what I said. Everyone is a potential starter for us.
“We said regardless of what we do, we try to improve our squad and bring in potential starters. If they will start or not, we will see in pre-season, but on paper they should be a strong option.”