MANAGER Martin Gray has warned potential new signings that he is not prepared to spend “stupid money” on wages when adding players to Darlington’s title-winning squad.

He is looking to strengthen Quakers ahead of starting the season in the National League North and is currently spending the bulk of his time in talks with potential new signings.

On Monday he made a transfer breakthrough by bringing in his first three players since the final game of the season.

Arran Wearmouth, Jordan Watson and Lewis Nightingale all signed two-year contracts and Gray wants to bring in “one or two more”, with the addition of a goalkeeper to challenge Peter Jameson among his priorities, while he was also speaking to a potential new striker on Tuesday.

However, Gray believes some targets are asking for more money than the club is willing to pay.

“There’s a perception that we are prepared to pay stupid money and I’ve had to close the door on two or three people straight away,” said Gray.

“They’ve got to live in the real world. If that’s what they think they can ask for they’ll have to go to the clubs which can pay that.

“I don’t want players who think they can come for a big pay day. We’re living within our means.”

Darlington will be at Step 2 in the non-league pyramid next season having been in Step 5, the Northern League, as recently as 2012-13, so Gray has a message for players looking for the same money available at the big-spending National League North clubs.

“There’s a limit to how much we can pay,” said the manager, who has led Quakers to three promotions in four seasons.

“If it’s about money then you might as well stay where you are because we’re not breaking our wage structure, and that’s quite clear.

“The board of directors are giving me our best chance of competing, but we’re also conscious how far we’ve come in a short period of time and we have to be careful what we spend and how we look after our money.

“We’ve got to be conscious of where we are as a club. We want to be able to compete and we’re trying our best, but there is a limit to what Darlington Football Club are prepared to pay at this moment in time.”

Jameson did not miss a minute of the action as Quakers won the Northern Premier League with 104 points, though Gray said: “I’m still looking to bring a goalkeeper in to challenge Peter.

“Like all players he needs pushing for his place, so we’re looking for a goalkeeper to give us the competition that the squad needs.”

Forward Wearmouth, left-back Watson and attacking midfielder Nightingale were all long-term targets, with Gray explaining they were required to boost numbers as well as Quakers’ quality.

“I’ve been looking at these players for a long time,” he said. “We need strength in depth and we need competition. One thing we didn’t have last season was numbers – we only had 16 or 17 players and how we got by with the number of games we had to play in a short time at the end of the season I don’t know.”