SEAN Dyche admits Burnley will struggle to compete with the rest of the Premier League long-term if the transfer market continues to rocket and the club’s prudent policy doesn’t move forward.

The Clarets have been hit by a summer of frustration and with just seven days of the window remaining Dyche is yet to add to his squad.

Burnley have found it a difficult balancing act in recent years in recruiting for the Premier League while refusing to put the club’s future at risk.

That has become even more difficult this summer, with moves for West Brom duo Craig Dawson and Jay Rodriguez and Swansea pair Alfie Mawson and Sam Clucas yet to materialise.

Meanwhile Dyche has had to watch clubs such as Brighton and Fulham splash the cash ahead of the new season.

“Brighton’s owner is very wealthy, Fulham’s owner I’m told virtually a billionaire. There’s no jealousy,” Dyche said of those two clubs. “They’ve all got their own ideas of what they want to do. I want to do a bit of that but I wouldn’t do it at the cost of a club, it’s just not right.

“The challenge is opening the club’s mind enough to go some way to keep up, because the whole of the football business is saying ‘all the best with that, we’re going up here’. Stretch and not break. It’s not easy.”

With the market taking steps forward every summer, Burnley could find themselves left behind at some stage.

Asked if clubs like Burnley could compete at this level long-term, Dyche said: “It’s tough. Probably, no. The market will probably outrun you at some point. Possibly, yes, football is weird like that. You can throw everything at the pitch and it doesn’t work.

“There are new investors coming into clubs across the land, there are plenty of stories not so good. This club doesn’t want to be one of the not-so-good stories.

“The challenge is how far you stretch it to allow us to continue moving forward, and keep progressing and challenging at the top level. That’s the tough side of it, finding that balance.”

But Dyche doesn't expect the club's policy to change without investment or a takeover.

"It’s a strange thing being a manager because you sit there with a list and convince yourself that will happen and that will happen and that will happen," he said.

"And then it’s ‘That one’s gone, gone, gone. That one’s definitely gone.’ And so you get to now and you’re thinking, ‘Hmm, it’s not looking quite as good as we thought it might’.

"But it’s not a new thing for us. It’s the reality of the club. Unless someone buys the club for millions, it will be run in a manner that protects it because it’s been so close to really drastic trouble."

Burnley began the summer in a position of strength, with another pot of Premier League cash in the bank and European football an added attraction.

That has made little difference in recruiting the targets Dyche wants, but asked if failing to strengthen in this window would represent a missed opportunity, the Clarets chief added: “It’s not about that. You only miss an opportunity if you’ve got a lot of money and you throw it around.

“The opportunity has to be right for the club and if it’s not right that’s the way it goes. There’s no point overthinking it, I could tell you I’ve got £100m to spend, but I haven’t, and I haven’t any year.

“We continue to work with the players we’ve got, who finished seventh in the Premier League. We want to support those players and get more of a competitive edge.”

Of potential deals before the end of the window, Dyche said on Wednesday that there were ‘a couple pending that we think we have a chance on’.

One deal that the club thought was done had got away from them, and while he did not mention names it’s understood that is Mawson, who was close to joining the Clarets a week ago before a late move from Fulham.

Asked if Dyche had ever experienced players wanting to move to Turf Moor but being unable to do so due to finance, he said: “We’ve had a couple.

“Agents get a bit of stick, but I had one agent agree to take less in his fee to get a player here. That stood him in good stead with me as a person.

“I’ve a couple of players who have stayed here when people have tried to get them out. I’ve had agents who want players to come here because it’s right for them. Eventually, money wins the day.”