Celtic boss Gordon Strachan told fans not to expect big-name additions to his "threadbare" squad this season, adding that he does not have enough money to buy the leg of Tottenham's David Bentley.
Speaking in the Scottish Daily Record newspaper after Celtic's 2-0 pre-season friendly defeat at the hands of the London club, Strachan issued a stern transfer warning, the AFP reported.
"Look at who they (Spurs) had tonight. Luka Modric, David Bentley, Dimitar Berbatov and then the left-back Gareth Bale comes on and he's worth 12 million pounds," he told the newspaper.
"We don't have that money and we have to do our best with what we've got and make the players better. What are our limits? Do you get half a Bentley, a quarter of Bentley? Do we get a Bentley right leg?"
He added: "We're about threadbare right now. But the players I have here are all I've got.
"One way or another we have to have passers on and then battlers on and we have to be ready for all sorts of games. It's easy for them (Spurs) to progress when they have money to spend."
Spurs' two goals came from Darren Bent, a transfer target for Strachan, and 22 million euro (34 million dollar) debut boy Bentley, who only joined from Blackburn on Thursday.
"We learned that Spurs are top quality," Strachan added, drawing attention to the widening financial gap between the two clubs.