PHIL Parkinson is convinced he has ‘traded up’ with his summer transfer dealings thus far, despite some slow going in the marketplace.

The Wanderers boss has added Pawel Olkowski, Erhun Oztumer, Jason Lowe and Clayton Donaldson to his squad but estimates he still needs seven new arrivals to be competitive in the Championship this season.

Time for such wide-scale business is tight, with this year’s window falling earlier than it has in the past. The deadline for permanent deals closes on August 9 and loans are allowed up to August 31.

But though Parkinson admits he has plenty of work to do, he is happy the limited number of players who have come through the door will improve his squad.

“We looked at the players we let go and wanted to bring in someone better – even if that’s just five per cent better – for each one,” he told The Bolton News.

“We’re trying to improve every department but what concerns me is that we’re nowhere near at the moment. The deadline comes quicker this season, as everyone knows, so we need to put our foot on the accelerator.”

The general transfer market has been stagnant this summer as the World Cup dominated the agenda and several clubs in the Championship started to come to terms with the practicalities of Financial Fair Play.

Parkinson revealed his own frustrations in the market, having asked around some of the ex-Premier League clubs over the last few weeks.

One such deal remains tantalisingly close for the Bolton boss, and could be completed before this weekend’s game against Girona.

“There are a lot of Championship clubs who are looking to move players on before they bring anyone in. But they want premium prices,” he said.

“It’s okay saying bigger clubs are having problems with Financial Fair Play and have to cut costs but they definitely don’t want to give anyone away. It’s slow and I hope it will speed up. In our situation we need another seven players, and we need to start making progress.”