Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence on the League 2 club’s approach to the January transfer window – first signing made as Remeao Hutton joins from Swindon
05:00, 18 January 2024
Bringing in quality over quantity is key for Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence during the January transfer window.
Clemence, who has previously insisted he has the final say on new signings, got his first new face through the door on Wednesday with the arrival of Swindon Town wing-back Remeao Hutton for an undisclosed fee.
More: Why Gills was the right club for Remeao
Prior to Wednesday’s signing, Gillingham’s head coach insists the club were busy chasing new signings - but that they won’t be making additions for the sake of it.
Their first new signing came halfway through the month of January when teams get the chance to trade contracted players.
The Gills are looking to improve their goalscoring prowess for the second half of the season, chasing players who could make that happen, but head coach Stephen Clemence was keeping it cool as fans get anxious over who might be heading to Priestfield.
“There are talks going on all of the time,” he said.
“The phone has been busy. There is plenty of work going on but we are not going to just take in any players, they have to be good players to get into this team.
“I believe that we have got a very good squad here and we only want players of the highest quality that can play at this level and possibly the level above, that’s what we are after and they are not always easy to get.
“I can assure that there is a lot of work going on.”
The Gills have scored 23 goals from 26 games – the lowest total in League 2 so far.
New signing Hutton comes with a reputation for getting crosses into the box which they hope will help create more goalscoring chances.
Clemence had been working with the squad that he inherited and will see the January window as a chance to bring in his own choice of player, but big changes aren’t expected.
Gillingham’s assistant boss Robbie Stockdale has also said they will only sign players who can make a difference.
“It is really important that we don’t sign players for the sake of signing them,” he said. “If we feel that they can benefit the team and the club then we will be in the mix and try and do it.
“We are happy with the players that we have got, of course we want to come out of it in a stronger position.
“I know everyone wants the signings yesterday, January is a very difficult window, teams don’t want to lose their players that we want because they are good players.”
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