Rotherham United interested in Billy Sharp - but the rest of the Championship will be too, says Matt Taylor

Sharp is available after being released by Sheffield United at the end of last season. Other clubs can offer more money for the division's all-time top scorer, but geography could help the Millers to attract the 37-year-old former Doncaster Rovers and Leeds United striker.

Taylor is expected to announce his first new signing of the summer on Tuesday having already made Grant Hall's loan from Middlesbrough permanent and persuaded Tyler Blackett, Sean Morrison and Lee Peltier to return after the end of their previous contracts.

Taylor is interested in Sharp, but says most of his counterparts will be too.

"He was a part of a promotion(-winning) team last season so I think 24 (Championship) managers would say the same," he argued.

"Maybe people see the location and the fact he's close to Rotherham in terms of his home life in Sheffield, we need centre-forwards as well as every other position.

"He's a proven, guaranteed goalscorer. We know where he is in terms of his age and his career but you sense by watching him all last season – and we played Sheffield United in a couple of (behind-closed-doors) friendlies as well – the hunger, the desire, the aggression is still there.

"We have conversations across the board with agents, players and managers elsewhere and all free-agent options are being looked into.

"He's certainly a player we've all admired from a neighbourly position."

He was less forthcoming about whether talks had taken place.

"That’s a private one for myself, the club, Billy and his agent," replied Taylor. "No one needs to know who's spoken to who. If we spoke like that I'd be telling you about 300 names!

"We have to be respectful of other people's situations as well.

"We'll always get linked with the ones at Sheffield United because of our location but we want to sign good players who add something to the group. The four we've re-signed add something and anyone else has to add something different."

Despite the lack of new faces so far, Taylor is pleased with the recruitment done, not only in terms of the four centre-backs, but also new coach Dan Green.

"As soon as (last) season finished, even before the end, we knew how important that quartet (of players) could be, not just in their playing capacity but their personalities, their leadership qualities, their experience," explained Taylor.

"We also feel that In two, possibly even three, of those instances – certainly Tyler and Sean – we've not seen enough and we're looking forward to seeing what their best looks like on a consistent basis. You might even put Hally in that bracket as well because he missed games through injury.

"There's always fitness concerns especially with the experience we went through last season, not just with those four but with all players, but contracts can reflect that. The big thing for me is they're fit at the moment, now it's our job to keep them fit, knowing when to use them, when to look after them, when to trust their bodies and listen to certain parameters.

"We've invested a lot in the medical department and we won't only now have our own eyes and the physio's opinion but a little bit of data to back it up and see where those muscles are in terms of strength, weakness and any problems which maybe last season we didn't have a handle on.

"Each (signing) has got different assets and different suitors but it's important to point out they all wanted to be here. That's huge.

"I only want to work with players who want to be here and are hungry to improve. They've got that desire to get this club where we want it to be and where they want it to be.

"They're at a position in their careers where they can almost pick and choose what happens next for themselves so I'm delighted they've chosen us as much as we've chosen them."

Avoiding relegation last season has allowed Rotherham to be in the mix for players of that calibre. The same goes for Green, who worked with Taylor at Exeter City before being headhunted by Aston Villa.

"I rate him as a coach and I love him as a bloke, I've known him for a long time now,” said Taylor.

"He's hell-bent on getting the maximum out of the players. He'll do that by investing in them totally but also he'll demand, he'll drive, he'll coach.

"His experience with me at Exeter was excellent and he went to the Premier League and learnt even more from the Unai Emerys of this world, top coaches in world football.

"He's watched, he's learnt and come back a different animal to what I knew in terms of his coaching.

"He's our biggest signing in terms of recruitment, that was massive for ourselves."