Maidstone United manager Craig Fagan discusses the state of play with contract offers and transfer targets as he builds for next season

New Maidstone United manager Craig Fagan is hoping to get a clearer picture of who is staying at the club over the next week or so.

Five players are on board, with George Fowler and Lenny Holden joining Taylor Foran, Riley Court and Leo Hamblin, who were already confirmed for next season.

John Gilbert rejected a new deal in favour of National League football at Aldershot, while Fagan is awaiting answers from five more players.

They are skipper Sam Corne, Jephte Tanga, TJ Bramble, Hamzad Kargbo and Mark Boruk.

Fagan, who released 11 players after succeeding George Elokobi, said: “I’m trying to keep a core group - I think that’s important - but where we are as a football club, we will not be overspending our budget.

“There are some big spenders in our league.

“Some of our better players have been offered contracts elsewhere, I’m not silly to know that, so I just want to get those that do want to be here, that do want to give everything for Maidstone, I want them signing a contract.

“We’ve got four or five in at the moment and I want to get three or four more out of that core group to sign, so you’ll be able to see what group is forming.

“We’ve given offers out and we’re hoping in the next week or so we’ll know where we are.

“I’ve been speaking to other players as well, not just the players we’ve got, but it’s a time of the year where some players want to go away and not think about football.

“I do understand that but as managers and coaches, you want to start getting those offers out to get the team settled.”

Maidstone are competing for signings in a challenging climate, given the inflated wages on offer at other clubs.

But they still have plenty going for them as an attractive proposition for new recruits.

“It’s a tough