Adam Henshall: Search for players never stops at Shrewsbury Town

Henshall, a long-time Salop fan who became recruitment administrator in February last year, says his phone is almost constantly ringing and he is regularly holding talks with agents.

On what his job entails, he said: “I spend a lot of time doing the ugly side of it, speaking to the agents – who is available, who is out of contract, what are their wages?

“I will then go away from that and watch the players’ footage, if I haven’t already. I will have usually watched them already.

“Then we assess whether or not we think they are worth that sort of money and draw up a list of pros and cons on the players to present to the manager.

“It may not be always something to give, but definitely conversations if he is away on holiday and stuff like that.”

Over the close season, recruitment, naturally, hots up as more players become available – but Henshall insists he and his team of 11 scouts never switch off.

“Recruitment happens all the time but in terms of how responsive players and agents are, this is the busiest time,” he said. “We are looking at players we can bring in throughout the year.

“We are always assessing, at all different levels throughout the game. In terms of what we actually do, we are always busy. Now, my phone is going off left, right and centre.”

Shrewsbury have made two new signings so far in Arthur Gnahoua and Lenell John-Lewis. While plenty of work is going on to build on that, Henshall insists it can be tricky when competing against other League One teams – and even sides from League Two and the National League.

“In League One and League Two, there is a big turnover of players,” he said.

“You don’t see the Ryan Giggs’ any more, lads who stick around at clubs and there is always teams willing to pay more than you in the league – that’s just how it is.

“You are always competing with clubs in your division, and ones that pay better below you.

“In league table form, you may not think they are a competitor – but they are.

“It is more than just finances. It’s location, where the family is based, if they have a child do they want to uproot them and get them in a new school? It’s all those sorts of things that do have to be taken into consideration, with any player.”

Lastly, Henshall insists he is not there to make decisions, but to provide information for boss Paul Hurst, who has the final say.

“I like being the person in the background, the judgment and decision is made by the manager,” he added.

“I can give as much information as I want, it’s entirely up to him.”