Town boss Paul Cook says the Blues are still looking for another “four, five or six” further additions this summer and says the club has brought in close to £2 million in fees for the players who have departed, while revealing at least one of his new signings will miss Saturday’s opener against Morecambe.
Cook, speaking to The Totally Football League Show says that while there’s a perception from the outside that Town have spent a lot of money in adding their 10 new recruits, the fees achieved for the players who have moved on have contributed to much of that expenditure.
"When we came in last year, we had a squad of 43 players. Within that, we’ve probably retained not many of them at all,” he said.
"We sold Andre Dozzell to QPR, we let Liam Gibbs go to Norwich, all for good money. We’ve probably brought close to £2 million in.
"So the brutal reality is that a lot of our spending has been funded and a lot of players left the club that have been replaced with new players on wage bills.
"I think that because there isn’t a lot of spending anywhere else in English football, any club like ours that is spending is deemed to be a big spender. The reality is we’re only probably replacing what we’ve lost with new players.”
Cook says the incoming transfers haven’t stopped yet: "Believe it or not, I don’t think we’ve finished bringing players in. We actually feel there are probably another four, five or six to come in. We are, believe it or not, short on numbers.
"And that integration is going to be huge to our success, without a shadow of a doubt. How quickly can we get [players integrated].
"For example, George Edmundson hasn’t trained since he signed from Glasgow Rangers last week, he won’t make Saturday. He hasn’t played in the team.
"Scott Fraser’s had a calf problem. We’ve actually got lads going out to train and play at the minute who have never played with each other before. That integration is going to be huge.”