Former defender Lee Wilkie fears Dundee will find it “really hard to replace” centre-halves Luke Graham and Billy Koumetio, but he is heartened by the fact head coach Steven Pressley has already shown “he can get the right players in”.
Koumetio, 23, has left to sign for Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee.
Graham, 22, who has been linked with both Stoke City and Portsmouth, looks set to join him in England’s Championship after the club accepted a bid for him.
Wilkie, who spent eight years at Dundee, said: “Luke has had a bit of interest around for the past wee while, so I think Dundee were probably preparing themselves quite well just to try and maximise the offers they were going to get for him and then prepare to replace him.
“Whereas with Billy it has been a little bit out of the blue and probably not ideal from Dundee’s point of view in terms of trying to replace him.
“Because I think even with the time they had with Luke, trying to get the right kind of guys in would have been a tough job for them. So, to do it when Billy ends up going could end up being a really tough job to try and replace him.”
“When you are talking about the core of a team – goalkeepers, centre-halves, centre midfielders, strikers – those types of players are always sought after and really hard to replace.”
Dundee have a number of voids to fill in their team following the departure of several key players since the end of last season.
And Wilkie said: “Pressley has definitely shown he can get the right players in. He has got an eye for the right type of player and the right type that they want to get into the club.
“It is positive from the fans’ point of view. If they are a little bit worried about who is going to be coming in, I think Pressley and his coaching staff and his recruitment staff are all definitely on the ball when it comes to getting the right players in.
“The only issue might be time, and I think you just need to look at their latest signing, [Ryan] Finnigan. I think Pressley himself mentioned that it took them almost 12 months to bring him in, so it just shows you the length of time it takes to get the right player into a club.”
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