Bournemouth manager Scott Parker has not hidden his frustration at a lack of signings this summer ahead of their return to the Premier League.
Since achieving promotion back to the top flight in May, the Cherries have secured the signatures of just two new faces during the transfer window so far - Ryan Fredericks and Joe Rothwell.
Both players have only arrived on free transfers however, and Parker remains keen to significantly strengthen his squad ahead of their season opener against Aston Villa on August 6.
Bournemouth concluded a disappointing pre-season schedule with a 2-1 defeat to La Liga outfit Real Sociedad on Saturday, which followed defeats to Braga and Bristol City as well, although a 2-1 triumph was recorded over League One side Sheffield Wednesday.
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Following Saturday's defeat at the Vitality Stadium, Parker bemoaned his side's activity in the transfer market so far: "We're six days out from the start of the Premier League season and we're way short of where we need to be.
"That's just the cold, hard facts. We barely have any defenders. We've lost eight players at the start of the season. At this present moment in time, this squad is much weaker than it was two months ago when we got promoted.
"Of course, no disrespect to what we've got, but I didn't anticipate to be where we are this close to the start of the season."
Despite Parker wishing to play with a more reserved 5-3-2 formation in Bournemouth's quest to avoid relegation during the 2022-23 campaign, the former Fulham boss has just three senior central defenders at his disposal as things stand.
Out of the three, only captain Lloyd Kelly was a regular starter during the promotion-winning campaign last season, with Chris Mepham used sparingly and James Hill featuring for just two minutes in senior football all year.
"The staff, the players, the fans, everyone worked tirelessly for us to get to where we are currently," Parker added.
"Like in any evolution, you're going up another level and everyone just needs a bit of help now. We need to make a decision on how that may look and what we're going to do to at least be competitive."
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One of the other areas that Parker wishes to add to this summer is in the goalkeeping department, with Mark Travers currently lacking much competition for the number one spot following the end of Freddie Woodman's loan spell in May.
Coventry City's Simon Moore has recently been identified as a potential backup, whilst Alex Smithies has been training with the club following the expiration of his contract with Huddersfield Town on June 30.
However, a move for Smithies is not expected after he failed to impress Parker in training, and with both current summer signings set to miss out on the opening day due to injury, Bournemouth look to have a lack of options to choose from when Villa come to visit.
One player that should feature is Marcus Tavernier, who is expected to complete his move to the South Coast this week after terms were agreed on a deal worth around £12.5m for the Middlesbrough midfielder.
Matthew Tranter
