Mat Sadler makes 'tough' admission when assessing Walsall squad planning
Mat Sadler is confident Walsall can build a competitive squad for next season despite admitting it will be tough to keep every player he wants.
Planning for next term has already begun with the Saddlers due to announce their released and retained list by the end of the week.
A significant shake-up is possible to a squad which came agonisingly close to winning promotion, with 13 players set to be out of contract at the end of next month.
Just seven are already signed up for the 2025-26 campaign, with a further seven loanees returning to their parent clubs.
Sadler gave a frank assessment of the situation, explaining: “Some will stay, some will go.
“What we've done is manage to have players that other people want so we'll have to work really hard to keep them.
“Obviously loan players will go back as well, so there will be a natural change over how things will be because things will change.
“We'll work hard to try and keep the players we want to keep but it's tough. Going back to budget wise, we'll have to make sure that we do all of that within the right budget and we've got to do that all within what we can do.
“What we'll make sure though is that we're competitive next year.”
Liam Gordon, Ryan Stirk and Harry Williams are among those with deals set to expire. The latter was the subject of interest from other clubs during the January window.
Asked if he would have preferred more players to be tied down on contracts, Sadler replied: “We tried so hard with lots of the guys. It's worth noting that that's because other people also want them so we'll have to make sure that we try again now that there's a natural ending to the season.
“That's what I'll be doing. That's what we have to do at this club, we have to find gems and make them better.
“We have to then try to hold on to them but also understand that football is football.”
