Leeds are hoping to offload a few players on loan by the end of the month, which should slightly ease our difficult financial situation.

Neil Redfearn has told the Yorkshire Post that several members of the squad have been asking if they can spend a bit of time elsewhere to get some first team football, and the good news is that we’ve even had a few enquiries from other clubs who are keen to take them off our hands. It’s a situation that’s come about with the rather large squad we’ve been carrying, with 38 senior players currently on the books, and we could with getting the number down to a more manageable size.

Redfearn said “I have had a conversation with a couple of them and they have done things right and asked in the right way and kept up their standard in training, so it is not a problem. At some point, we have got to address it. Some of these boys really need to go and play some games. We have arranged a couple of behind-closed-doors games which they have played in, so they have minutes under their belts. But actually playing on a Saturday afternoon when there’s three points at stake and a crowd, that is the sort of experience they need at this point. We are mindful of it and are trying to get ourselves in a position where maybe one or two do go out.”

Since Cellino took over as president players have been coming in faster than he has managed to ship them out, even though he did managed to get one or two of the highest earners off the books during the summer. While he has been busy recruiting those who he liked the look of in European football, it hasn’t been so easy get rid of those already at the club who are sitting on contracts that are unlikely to be matched elsewhere. Cellino was also keen to stockpile players during the last transfer window, as we may be hit with a transfer embargo under the new Football League rules in January, once the annual accounts for 2013/14 are released. Sending players on loan could be the ideal solution, as they can always be recalled if we were to run into an injury crisis.

Redfearn hasn’t named any names, but those out of favour include Nicky Ajose, an early Cellino signing who already seems to be a forgotten man, as well as several who came to the club during the McDermott and Warnock eras. Presumably they include the much derided Noel Hunt and David Norris, who has been restricted to one League Cup appearance in the last 18 months. And even Luke Murphy could be tempted to try his luck elsewhere, having been in the dog house since his reckless dismissal at Bradford was the main reason we lost that particular cup tie.

Given the complicated financial situation that Cellino inherited from GFH, which is still throwing up nasty surprises, he could do with trimming the squad. We already had one of the highest wage bills in the Championship when he took over, and it can only have grown as the numbers of players has increased. If we do manage to send one or two players on loan it’s by no means certain that the other club will agree to pick up their full salary (with Hunt and Murphy said to be on very generous terms by Championship standards, to name but two) but any contributions will be gratefully received.

Any outgoing loans will have to be agreed by the end of November 27, which is the end of the Football League’s current emergency loan window, but let’s hope they can shift at least some of the dead wood out of the club, and that any agreements can then be extended until the end of the season. Then we might just have enough funds for Cellino to bring in a few more signings in January (Football League permitting) and Redfearn will have the opportunity to give the best of the youngsters some valuable first team experience.

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