We must not spend money we just don’t have

legacy transfer payments.”

Sunderland, who will have to pay another significant sum next summer for signings made in previous windows, will see their parachute payments decline over the next two years before they end entirely, should they not secure promotion.

Bain says preparing the club for that possibility has been an important factor in the club’s business this summer.

“When you consider the legacy payments and the loss of Premier League revenue, obviously, you get parachute payments which decline, so what you don’t want to do is spend what you may not have,” he said.

“We don’t want to be owner reliant, so I have to take stock of the future, I don’t look at this year and spend, then next year and spend.”

Bain accepts that there will be frustration giving the spend of other clubs, eager to recoup the Premier League TV revenue by investing heavily in the playing squad.

He said: “I absolutely get that. There’s the balance between being reckless in trying to achieve it and having a go to get the quality that will get you there.

“Where we are at in this moment, we have to get the footballing basics right, get the environment right, so we can then have a go.”

As the club continues to struggle with the impact of previous transfer decisions, Bain says he is taking steps to safeguard the club in future and improve their efficiency in the market.

“We’re just trying to be more conservative and diligent ... a lot of the legacy transfer fees that we’re paying are impacting the club in terms of handcuffing our ability to do certain things,” he said.

“In how we’re structuring contracts going forward, it’s about protecting the club. I don’t like things in them, like an exit clause that allows a player to leave on a free. It’s just about having that constraint in terms of the structure.”

Bain used the exit of Vito Mannone as an example. “Vito had a year left on his contract, which was going to run down, and Sunderland would have got nothing for him,” he said. “The right thing was to ensure that the club protected its investment and got some money for Vito. That’s what I mean about efficiency.”