Friday 6 June 2014 13:32, UK
Eddie Howe has 'irons in the fire' at Bournemouth, but says he will not be rushing into summer transfer deals.
The signing of former Everton and Newcastle United midfielder Dan Gosling has already been wrapped up, but he was available as a free agent.
Further additions may require money to be spent, and any funds must be used wisely.
The sale of striker Lewis Grabban to Norwich City has helped to bolster the kitty, but Howe is aware of the need to avoid making snap judgements.
He said in the Bournemouth Echo: “We’ve got irons in the fire.
“We have targets in mind and we are working hard to try and secure those targets.
It may well be that we have to be patient this summer, just due to the players we have identified and their situations, and the market itself is quite quiet.
“It may well be that we have to be patient this summer, just due to the players we have identified and their situations, and the market itself is quite quiet.
“We are quite prepared to go into pre-season being patient and, hopefully, get the additions we want before the season kicks off.”
While a new frontman is likely to figure prominently on his wish list, having lost 22-goal Grabban, Howe has called on his other strikers to step up and help to fill the void.
He added: “Sometimes these things can make you stronger, and that’s certainly how we are looking at it.
“Unless you are Real Madrid or Barcelona, there is always a fear you are going to lose your best players and we’ve always, historically, had this issue.
“However, we have always managed to find replacements, or brought players from within who have come in and done a very good job.
“Now the door opens for the likes of Tokelo Rantie, Brett Pitman and Josh McQuoid who are already here and, of course, we have the transfer market as well.
“From our perspective we are very positive, we feel we’ve got a really good squad and we feel if we can make some quality additions we can be stronger than we were last year.”
