Kevin Nolan always ends with the same message when meeting potential new signings

Nolan wants full buy-in from every member of his squad next season, something he made abundantly clear at the start of the summer, so should a prospective new signing show any hesitation about joining the club, he’ll happily move onto his next target.

"The new lads will tell you, when I finish on a Zoom call with a player, I always end by saying the same thing to them – ‘if you aren't 110 per cent in, I wouldn't expect you to sign for us,” explained Nolan.

"They can phone me if they have any questions but I only want players who are all in because the players have to drive it. I drive my staff every day and I want my staff to drive the players and then the players have to drive each other. So it's really important that we have a massive buy-in from the players when they sign for Northampton. It's not just going out there and throwing money around for the sake of it."

Nolan’s squad is undergoing a major transformation this summer with 15 players having already departed and nine joining at the latest count. Further new additions are expected in the coming days and weeks while the door is open for one or two more to leave.

Nolan added: "A lot of people were out of contract and I've decided to go down a different route and hopefully that comes to fruition in the coming weeks and the next few months and it proves that we made the right decisions.

"I wish everyone who's left the very best because they were good servants and they all contributed, but now it's about looking forward and that's the most important thing. We all want to go above and beyond where people outside of Northampton see us and we want to be the ones who upset a few people next season.”