DAVID MOYES remains adamant Lamine Kone will not be leaving Sunderland before the end of the month, but has admitted the Black Cats cannot compete with a majority of their Premier League rivals in the transfer market.

Sunderland return to action in the second round of the EFL Cup when they entertain Shrewsbury Town tonight, and their preparations for the game were affected yesterday when Vito Mannone joined a rapidly-expanding injury list as he damaged his arm in training.

As well as setting up his side to face the Shrews, Moyes has also been dealing with a series of off-field issues as he gets to grips with overhauling the squad he inherited from Sam Allardyce.

Kone’s future continues to dominate the agenda, with the defender clearly determined to join Everton in the wake of a £17m bid from Goodison Park. The centre-half is due to return to Sunderland’s Academy of Light training ground this morning for treatment on a back problem, with Moyes still determined to hold on to him beyond the end of the month.

The Scotsman is well aware that Kone’s departure would generate some much-needed transfer funds, but with just a week of the transfer window remaining, he does not believe he would be able to secure a like-for-like replacement for the 27-year-old.

“I’ve said all along, Kone will stay,” said Moyes. “I’ve had that offer (from Everton) for a while now, and I could have invested that money two weeks ago, but that’s very difficult.

“It’s very difficult to invest in players given the prices – in terms of who you can get for your money, and what you can get for your money. It would be very difficult to replace Lamine.

“I have not changed my view from day one. We have an offer, but unless we were able to get close to a suitable replacement, I would never do the deal. We were going to bring him back in (yesterday), but his daughter has not been well. But he is due back in (today) for treatment.”

Retaining Kone would solve one of Moyes’ defensive dilemmas, but the Sunderland boss still accepts he needs to make “four or five” additions before next Wednesday’s transfer deadline.

The Black Cats are close to agreeing a deal with Rubin Kazan that will see Yann M’Vila return to Wearside following last season’s loan spell, and are also on the verge of completing a season-long loan for Atletico Madrid full-back Javier Manquillo.

Barnsley defender Alfie Mawson is another leading target – Sunderland officials have discussed a possible £3m deal with their counterparts at Oakwell – but Everton’s James McCarthy is likely to prove too expensive despite Moyes being a strong admirer of the Irish midfielder.

The Black Cats have made five additions so far this summer – Papy Djilobodji, Paddy McNair, Donald Love, Adnan Januzaj and Steven Pienaar – but Younes Kaboul has left in a £3.5m move to Watford and Emanuele Giaccherini has joined Napoli for a fee of around £2m.

Sunderland’s net transfer spend stands at around £9.5m, but with the likes of Steven Fletcher, Danny Graham, Santiago Vergini and Jordi Gomez having been either released or sold since the end of last season, the club’s wage bill is likely to have shrunk over the course of the summer.

Nevertheless, with a majority of Premier League clubs having outspent Sunderland since the end of last season, Moyes admits he is unable to match the majority of his top-flight rivals when it comes to investing in the transfer market.

“This club will attract a certain type of player,” he said. “Until we’re in a much higher league position, then we can’t attract much better. We’re out there looking, and I hope in the next few days I can surprise you, but there’s no doubt that our budget is not at the level of many of the clubs you’re seeing out buying at the moment. You can’t be kidded by that.

“The owner has said that if we come up with the names of the players, he’ll do everything he can to get them here. He will support me if I come up with the players who we think at the right level we can get in.

“But the quality of the players Sunderland can get at the moment is probably not what I’ve been buying in the last six years, or what I’ve had in the Premier League – not anywhere close to it.

“So you look at your competitors, what they’re spending and what they’re spending on, and we’re actually trying to deal differently. We’re having to deal differently now.”

Jordan Pickford will take Mannone’s place in the starting line-up tonight – the 22-year-old had been pencilled in to start anyway – but the size of Sunderland’s injury list means Moyes is unable to make too many changes for his first League Cup tie on Wearside.

John O’Shea is absent with the injury he sustained on Sunday, although the Irishman’s hip problem is not as bad as first feared, while Fabio Borini will not be risked despite returning to training after damaging his toe.

Jan Kirchhoff, Lee Cattermole and Seb Larsson remain on the long-term absentee list, and having been the manager of Everton when the Toffees lost at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup third round in 2003, Moyes will be taking nothing for granted tonight.

“That (the FA Cup defeat) was one of the worst days I had as Everton manager,” said Moyes, who played for Shrewsbury against Sunderland at Roker Park in 1989. “Upsets can happen, and we have to make sure one doesn’t happen here.”

Sunderland (possible, 4-2-3-1): Pickford; Love, Rodwell, Djilobodji, T Robson; Pienaar, Gooch; Khazri, Lens, Watmore; Asoro.