Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has defended their quiet summer market.
The Magpies manager is therefore optimistic of being able to compete with the biggest clubs in the Premier League once the financial clampdown comes into effect.
"We have a long-term plan in place at Newcastle which means that we don't spend what we don't have," he said in the Sunday Mirror.
"The hope is that if the Financial Fair Play rules are fairly applied we will have a sound foundation in place on which to challenge all the other clubs.
"There is no doubt that until those rules are in place, we can't compete with what the Champions League clubs are spending, and that increases the size of our challenge.
"But we have slowly built a squad that finished fifth last season and the key for me was retaining all our top players this summer."