Sunderland chief Alex Neil has revealed that the Championship outfit are in talks with numerous targets whilst in conversation with Chronicle Live.
However, Neil has indicated that progress has been slow thus far, with the new second-tier season edging closer to its commencement.
The Black Cats secured promotion back to the Championship via the play-offs last time out, ending a four-year stint in England's third-tier.
Arriving at a time when Sunderland could have quite easily fallen away, Neil managed to galvanise the squad and get the best out of them.
Providing an update on Sunderland's transfer window to the Chronicle Live, Neil said: "There's been ongoing discussions with numerous players, from different clubs, and the minute we get something across the line, which I can assure you we want to get done as soon as possible, then everybody will be made aware.
"At certain times, though, that process cannot get speeded up by what we're trying to do.
"We're banging the door down as much as we can. I don't want to do my business on the last day in August – I want to get my business done as quickly as possible.
"But as I say, the simple fact, unfortunately for us, is that we're not in control of that. There's a lot of teams at the moment, certainly from the Premier League, that are only just coming back from trips abroad.
"You can't sign a player if he's in a different country."
The verdict
Every manager wants to complete their summer business as early as possible but very rarely can that be the case.
Given that Premier League clubs have that little bit longer to prepare for the new season ahead, a lot of top-tier clubs are still away in training camps, which makes it difficult for a club like Sunderland to conduct business with these clubs.
Welcoming Jack Clarke back to The Stadium of Light and adding the likes of Daniel Ballard and Aji Alese to the squad, it has been somewhat of a productive summer thus far.
Looking to polish off his squad ahead of the start of the new season, Neil will be eager to confirm at least a couple more arrivals before the end of this month.