Carlisle United manager spells out next transfer aims

And the Blues manager is eyeing more permanent potential arrivals as well as monitoring the loan market.

Carlisle have already brought in four new faces this month in Harry Lewis, Luke Armstrong, Harrison Neal and Seán Grehan.

Further arrivals are not said to be imminent but Simpson has targets in mind, and the backing to strengthen his squad further in the push for League One survival.

United’s spending power has increased thanks to the club’s new owners, the Piatak family, but Simpson stressed that this has not led to an imbalance in the club’s wage structure.

“They [the owners] have given us the budget, and they're allowing us to go on spending wisely,” Simpson said.

“And all of the signings that have come in are all coming in within our budget and within the realms of what we can do – we are still at the point where we've not been stupid with anything we don't have.

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“We don't have anybody who's on one level of salary and the rest are all lower down. That's not how it works.

“We're trying to get everybody fitting into a wage structure that suits the football club.

“And the truth is we need some more – we need at least two more in my opinion.

“So there's no way I can go throw absolute piles of money at one and leave ourselves short for others.

“So they all have to fit into the structure. And that's exactly what they're doing.”

Carlisle's four January signings so far (clockwise from top left): Luke Armstrong, Harrison Neal, Seán Grehan and Harry Lewis (Image: Barbara Abbott / CUFC)

Simpson said that, should be bolster his squad further, it could open the door for certain players to leave, but he said he had not yet received calls about any of his squad.

He added: “I’m probably thinking two [more signings] at the moment but it may turn out to be three – if it’s three, there will be some players who will leave.

“That’s something we’re just going to have to assess as we go along.

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“We have the players in mind that we want to bring in; that’s where the discussions are going.

“At the moment there’s nothing I can say is going to be confirmed but I assure everybody, we hope there will be players who will make us better and we’ll let everybody know as soon as we can.”

Asked whether he was looking at permanent or loan deals with United’s next targets, Simpson added: “Permanents, as well as loans.

“Obviously you're only allowed five loans in a matchday squad. So there's no point overloading ourselves with loans and having to leave loans out because we've already got five in the 18.

“So it's a balancing act. We’re certainly looking at permanent deals. But if the right loan was to come up as well, we'd also consider that.”

United's manager did not say which particular positions he is now targeting.