Phil Parkinson makes Sunderland transfer admission and hits out at EFL's controversial salary cap rules

League One clubs narrowly voted last Friday to impose a flat wage cap of £2.5 million, from which players under the age of 21 at the start of the calendar year will be exempt.

Players who signed a contract before Friday will be counted as earning £113,000 for the first year.

It has left Parkinson and the Black Cats with little room to play with in the transfer market, with the Black Cats boss still eager to sign five players before the window shuts in October.

Speaking to the new official club podcast, #SAFCUnfiltered, Parkinson said: “We tried to get a couple in before Friday but those deals didn't quite get over the line.

“It was the decisions of the agents and the players on that one and when you're going for players who have Championship interest, it can be difficult.

“We've had to change tack a bit in the last couple of days and reassess what we're going to do.

“I'm still confident we'll have a strong squad but one or two we thought we could get, are not in the marketplace right now.”

Read our explainer on exactly how the new salary cap rules affect Sunderland’s budget for this summer

Parkinson says the cap is not in the best interests of the game, and said the EFL should simply have properly enforced their previous rules, which restricted clubs to spending 60% of their turnover on wages.

“The salary cap decision on Friday has made it difficult for us,” he said.

“We've got to change our way of thinking slightly and that's what we've been going through the last couple of days.

“We really hoped it wouldn't get voted through, I feel it's a decision where people have voted for their own best interests and not their best financial interests, because if you only want to spend £2.5 million, then that's down to you and you can do that.

“But it's been voted for by clubs to reduce the ability of clubs like ourselves and Portsmouth to spend that little bit more to get the better quality players.

“I don't think the media has really explained this well enough to everybody.

“There's already the financial fair play regulations in place, which means you can spend 60% of your turnover on player wagers.

“All the EFL had to do was police that better and make sure they monitored that, especially in the Championship,” he added.

Read the latest on Sunderland’s pursuit for their summer targets here

“There was no need for this to come in. I don't think it's a decision made in the best interests of football in general and certainly not for players out of contract.

“Not only are they looking for work in the tough times everyone faces, but also clubs now have [added] restrictions.

“We're very disappointed with the outcome but we've got to find a way to get a squad as strong as possible.

“We've got a good base to work from but we need five more players and we've got to work out how we're going to get them in.”

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