Barber: Albion likely to go abroad for new signings

The Seagulls have made four pre-season signings so far; Pascal Gross and Markus Suttner from German side Ingolstadt, Mathew Ryan from Spanish club Valencia and Izzy Brown on loan from Chelsea.

The money spent at the top end of the Premier League this summer has made it difficult for Albion to make more signings so far and Barber stresses the board will not put the club in a difficult position in the future by over-extending themselves now.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said last week the current Premier League spending is unsustainable, with more than £850 million spent by clubs in the top flight this summer.

Speaking to BT Sport, Barber said: "We know we've got to strengthen our squad where we can to compete but at the same time we're also aware of the risks of over extending ourself and putting the club and its future in a difficult position, which is not something we're prepared to do.

"Of course everyone assumes when you're promoted you receieve a huge sum of money from the Premier League and you're in the Premier League bracket of being able to spend money.

"The reality is there are many, many mini leagues within the Premier League. You've seen from Daniel Levy's comments even the biggest clubs in the league are finding it very tough to get deals done. The demands of players and agents and the selling clubs are getting greater than ever.

"It's very difficult for us, we're the new kids on the block. We've still got to look for value and invariably that value is outside of the UK, which is a shame because we'd love to have a team full of British players.

"The reality is we've got to cut out cloth accordingly and we've got to find quality from different parts of the world and blend it with British players."

Barber also spoke about the current spending in the Premier League and does not believe it can continue to be sustainable. He said: "I share Daniel's views that sooner or later there has to be some levelling out because it's not sustainable to keep spending more money than you're bringing in.

"When that is and how long it takes is a much harder call. Certainly in our case, we tend to try and retain and remain as sensible and sustainable as we possibly can because we are in our first season in the league."

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