BARROW AFC owner Paul Casson says the club have not broken the bank to assemble an impressive squad at Holker Street for next season.

But the Bluebirds chairman admits their new-found reputation as a team with cash to burn – whether unfounded or not – does worry him when they go into negotiations with potential new signings.

Manager Paul Cox has impressed supporters by landing the likes of Chester striker Ross Hannah, Macclesfield captain Paul Turnbull and Inverness Caledonian Thistle midfielder Liam Hughes.

The calibre of recruits has led to speculation over whether Texas-based millionaire Casson was flexing his financial muscle to build the squad for the 2016/17 National League campaign.

But the telecommunications businessman has played down such suggestions, insisting Cox has simply spent wisely and well.

“I think Paul Cox has done an absolutely brilliant job with the budget he has been given,” said Casson, who will be in town this weekend to watch Saturday’s opening pre-season match against the Furness Select at Rakesmoor Lane.

“I think some of the bigger clubs in the division, from what we can tell, are throwing real money at it. As they can. We aren’t doing that, we’re being pretty frugal, based on the fact we are building for the long-term.

“This isn’t a short-term enterprise for us. Clubs like Forest Green throw buckets of money at it every year and they are still sitting in this league.

“We don’t have any £3,000-a-week strikers. We have nothing like that.

“These are players who want to come to play for Barrow for a wage that is fair for the level they are playing at.

“Compared with the value that we probably got last year, I think Paul Cox has done a phenomenal job.”

The only time Casson felt money came into it when Barrow have been pursuing players this summer was with the departed Andy Cook.

He has now joined National League rivals Tranmere, having previously said he was looking for a move to the Football League and would not join anyone else in AFC’s division.

Generally, however, Casson feels other reasons have been behind the club missing out on players, even though he does realise the perception of wealth can be an issue.

He added: “I do worry that we are seen as a big-money club by players. Every week. But we disavow them of that notion very quickly and the ones who want to come, come, and the ones who are simply coming for the money go somewhere else.

“For the most part, it’s interesting. Paul Cox rarely talks about money with these guys until it gets to the point where we actually want them.

“Oddly, this year, money hasn’t really come into it until the end. The only money discussion we have had, which we were a little disappointed with, was with Andy Cook, and that went the wrong way.

“We missed out on players for a couple of reasons. One is the geography. We have scouts all over now and they were players from the south that we would have liked to have signed that just, for personal or whatever reasons, wanted to continue to play in the south.

“That has been the primary reason, but we have also lost out on a player when a League club came in at the 11th hour and with those things, there is not much you can do.

“In truth, to this point, I think we have missed out on three or four players, but in no case was there a disagreement over money, except for Mr Cook.”

Casson would not go into figures about the club’s wage bill for the season ahead, but he does feel it gives Cox the chance to build a strong squad.

He also knows his manager is not going to waste what money he has, and added: “I hope the budget is competitive. We have never really had a discussion about it, it’s just there.

“Paul Cox knows what value costs in this league and he has gone after it. He’s a solid, blue-collar, working class kind of guy and he doesn’t waste money – he doesn’t like spending money and he doesn’t want to be seen wasting it. He has been very cautious about how he spends it.

“We haven’t really had any discussions when it comes to ‘oh, I need this to get this player’. That has never been an issue.”