Derby County boss Wayne Rooney has claimed the club's recruitment over the next 12 to 18 months will be vitally important and reiterated that the Rams have his full focus.
The former England and Manchester United captain took permanent charge back in January and has done a fantastic job so far – helping the Rams climb nine points clear of the bottom three.
It seems Rooney's focus has now shifted onto how to take the club forward and, speaking to talkSPORT, he highlighted the importance of their recruitment over the next year and a half.
He said: "I have to focus on my job at Derby. I feel I’ve got a big job here, a big responsibility to the football club.
“Whatever happens in the future, you don’t know of course, if you’re asking any manager ‘do you have any ambitions to work at the top, like the Champions League or Premier League?’
“The important thing is how we recruit in the next 12-18 months. I really believe that we are onto something special here at Derby.”
Derby spent part of the January transfer window under an embargo after failing to pay their players fully in December but made a string of impressive late signings.
The pull of playing under an English legend like Rooney is likely to help the club's recruitment moving forward but he will be hamstrung if he doesn't have financial backing, something that seems up in the air at the moment given the ongoing delays to Sheikh Khaled's prospective takeover.
The Verdict
Rooney deserves a huge amount of credit for the job he's done at Derby so far.
He's certainly shown that he is more than just a big name and Rams fans should be excited about what the future will hold with him at the club.
Having spent a long time at United under Sir Alex Ferguson, Rooney will know just how important signing the right players is and with that in mind, he's bang on to highlight the importance of recruitment moving forward.
He will only be able to take the East Midlands club so far if he's not given the right resources.
You'd question at the moment whether Mel Morris can give him those and it seems as if the takeover will be needed soon.