Stoke City chief executive Tony Scholes has insisted that the club are in the market for better players this summer.
The Potters have spent very little in the last two years, but have managed to recruit the likes of Bojan Krkic, Marko Arnautovic and Mame Biram Diouf.
However, this summer they have admitted that they intend to spend more money and have been linked with the likes of Yevhen Konoplyanka and Cedric Soares.
Scholes told The Sentinel: "The truth is that when you improve as a club – and there is no question we have improved a lot over the years – you raise the bar in the players you are going for.
"The kind of players you target are aspirational players, players who are about pushing the boundary even more, so you are in competition with good clubs.
"We don't want to be bringing in players who have no other choices. Perhaps barring the top three, four or half-dozen clubs in Europe, we are now in the market for that next level of player."
The Midlands side finished ninth in the Premier League last season.
Charlie Bennett
