Stuart Kettlewell will have his players back at Fir Park next week. They will find a few empty pegs in the dressing room.
Motherwell issued an end of season update at the end of May and it shows a much reduced complement of players on the books. The manager can expect around twenty for his first meeting in pre-season.
Liam Kelly will be missing as he has duties with the Scotland national team but the list suggests that Stephen O’Donnell, Nathan McGinley, Paul McGinn, Ricki Lamie, Bevis Mugabi, Shane Blaney, Calum Butcher, Callum Slattery, Lennon Miller, Riku Danzaki, Blair Spittal, Ross Tierney, Kevin Van Veen, Joe Efford, Aston Oxborough, Kyle Aitken, Josh Bogan, Mark Ferrie, Luca Ross and Dylan Wells will be present. Also returning to their home base will be Barry Maguire, Connor Shields and Robbie Mahan.
A sizeable group seems to be in limbo. Some out of contract players have been offered contracts and of those some have made it clear that they will seek pastures new. Max Johnston and Dean Cornelius have made their intentions clear but they remain unattached.
After the first week back the squad moves to Delden in Holland for a week in a training camp. On Tuesday 27 June they well travel a few miles south to play HSC Haaksbergen at the at Groot Scholtenhagen stadium. (KO 7.30pm with free entry for fans).
They will return home on 1 July, a fortnight ahead of the League Cup group stage game in Elgin. The SPFL will release the league fixture list on 30 June.
There’s no doubt that Kettlewell will have a busy week ahead of the trip. He’ll be anxious to integrate his new starts in the group and ensure that they are up to speed in mid-July.
The rumour mill is sure to ramp up in the coming weeks. Can we hold on to Kevin van Veen?
UPDATE
On Wednesday 14 June it was announced that Jake Carroll, Jack Aitchison, David Devine, Corey O’Donnell, Daniel Hunter, Kian Speirs and Logan Dunachie will be leaving.