You can 'sign' someone on a pre contract agreement which kicks in on July 1st but that only applies to players whose contracts expire on June 30th. In any case it will be almost impossible to complete the squad by the start of pre season training. Players,via their agents,wait for options and by the time the playing one off against the other is complete,the season has almost started.I have no doubt it is an absolute nightmare and while I can be sometimes cynical to what the club and Warne might say through the media,on this subject,they have my sympathies.Having said that,all clubs go through the same.