WANDERERS potentially face losing out on their top summer transfer targets if they fail in an appeal against EFL salary cap changes.

A new directive issued last week more than halves the wage Phil Parkinson’s side will be able to offer new signings.

The Whites will be limited to contracts of £4,500-a-week, which is a significant drop on the £600,000-per-annum (£11,500-a-week) level set previously at the end of the 2015/16 campaign.

The EFL have said they will treat cases in their own right but Wanderers were able to offer better deals as a League One club last season – and chairman Ken Anderson is set to argue his case with league officials on Thursday.

If he is unable to reach a compromise, the new directive will apply to any new signings until the club is able to clear the embargo altogether.

The rules, which apply to any Championship clubs in an embargo, also state Wanderers will be limited to a staff of 23 players and will only be able to loan players for half a season.

They are also unable to pay loan fees and cannot contribute more than 100 per cent of a player’s contracted wage with his parent club.

Although Wanderers have managed to stock their squad well so far this season, bringing in the likes of Sammy Ameobi, Will Buckley and Adam Le Fondre, there are still areas in which it looks painfully in need of reinforcement.

Andy Taylor remains the only senior left-back in the squad, while a replacement has not yet been found for Jay Spearing.

Steve Parkin admitted the recruitment process has been an arduous one for manager Parkinson, with Wanderers’ budget eclipsed by the vast majority of their rivals in the second tier.

“It is difficult,” he told The Bolton News. “We are still trying to bring players in and in an ideal world we’d have three or four more just for the base strength of the squad. I think that would benefit the ones we’ve already got as well as make us a lot stronger.

“He can’t try any harder. But it is a lot more difficult to get players in the Championship than it is in League One. The level of wages are much higher and it’s a difficult job to get the ones you want.”

Salary caps have also been reduced in League One and Two to £1,300 per week and £800 per week, respectively.