IT may have taken just 15 days for Grimsby Town to make their first summer signing but Rob Scott has warned fans not to expect a glut of new faces.
The Mariners bosses moved quickly to bring winger Scott Neilson back to the club on a permanent basis this week.
However, despite the exit of 13 players in total – including loanees – Scott and co-manager Paul Hurst are refusing to rush their rebuilding project.
"Some of the players we're looking at are Football League players, others are non-league, and we'll have to weigh up our options," Scott told the Telegraph.
"But we're certainly not going to jump the gun.
"It's been shown in recent years that you can pick up some good bargains later down the line.
"That was shown last year in picking up Pondy (Nathan Pond) on loan a week before the season started, and Derek Niven came in a couple of weeks before that.
"So the players are out there. We'll just have to be patient and bide our time, and hopefully the right ones come along."
Scott, right, continued: "We won't be jumping in too early and paying excessive wages.
"Scott (Neilson) was a little bit different in that he's already been here, he knew what we could afford to pay and he wanted to be somewhere where he could be settled and get his feet under the table pretty quickly.
"He'd already been released from his contract at Luton, so it was a little bit different."
And with a reduced playing budget to work with next campaign, Scott wants value for money.
"We've got to get away from the mentality of agents ringing up asking for these ridiculous wages," he added.
"There will be a lot of players without a club who will want to come and play for a club of our stature.
"The way the game is going, the money isn't there the way it used to be, although there will always be a couple in the league who spend, like Forest Green this time around.
"That was shown last year with Mansfield, and Newport had a fair pot of cash as well. Money does sometimes talk but not always, and we'll have to be very prudent and exact in our signings."
