DARIO GRADI says there has been little interest in his players during the transfer window - although he is ready to embark on a clear-out of his own.

The best offer the Crewe boss has fielded for any of his players is a meagre £20,000. Meanwhile, he is preparing to let Juan Ugarte and Justin Cochrane leave as he looks to rebuild his squad with next season, just as much as this one's relegation battle, in mind.

"We've not won many games for a year and that means we've got to try to improve the squad we've got. So there's no point in people hanging around if they're not going to play," outlined Gradi.

Wrexham have inquired again about taking Spanish striker Ugarte on loan, while out-of-favour midfielder Cochrane has been placed on the transfer list at his own request.

"Denis Smith has asked if he can take Juan on loan and I've not said "no", but he's not fit yet," explained Gradi.

"When he is fit we will review it. But if I am playing Gareth Taylor, which I am going to do, then I've got four others (for one position), Eddie Johnson, Steve Jones, Mike Higdon and Luke Rodgers.

"Juan has not indicated before now that he is going to get in ahead of any of them."

Crewe's top-heavy striking department has already been lightened by the off-loading of Mark Rivers, who joined Carlisle on a free transfer earlier this week.

QPR boss Ian Hollway made a tentative inquiry about Steve Jones earlier in the month, then claiming Crewe had quoted him a figure of £300,000 for the forward.

So the small offer received is unlikely to be for the Northern Ireland international, whose contract situation remains unresolved ahead of him falling a free agent in the summer.

"The best offer we had for one of our players was £20,000 with £5,000 extra on appearances," noted Gradi. "That is about it."