BOSS Eddie Howe admits the arrival of Elliott Ward is unlikely to spark a flurry of signings as stringent financial fair play rules continue to impact on Cherries’ squad strengthening.

Experienced defender Ward became Howe’s first summer recruit when he joined Cherries on a free transfer on Tuesday following his release by Premier League Norwich City.

Cherries beat off competition from a host of Championship clubs to secure the services of the 28-year-old, with Howe telling the Daily Echo that Ward’s signing would not be “the first of many”.

In common with all their rivals in the second tier, Cherries must adhere to a strict set of Football League guidelines which are in place to prevent clubs running up huge debts.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “We need quality additions and I don’t think we need quantity. Whichever player we sign, we are trying to make sure they are going to improve the team and the squad so there will not be a huge number coming in. Hopefully, there will be more quality additions in the calibre of Elliott.

“We are aiming to build a really competitive squad and one we think can do well in the division. But it is going to be incredibly difficult because we are competing against clubs that are much bigger than ours. Hopefully, Elliott’s signing goes some way to moving in the direction we want to go.”

Howe, who set about trimming his squad shortly after he had returned to the club in October, added: “There is no rush and we had to be patient with Elliott. He was a free transfer and we didn’t have to pay a fee for him. He had other choices, we had to wait for him and I felt that was the right thing to do.

“Regarding our other targets, things don’t always happen as you would want them to or maybe as quickly as you would like them to. As I have said before, if we don’t get the ones we want, we may end up going with what we have got. I wouldn’t want to bring in someone who was potentially not better than what we have already because you are just adding numbers to the group.

“The team we had last season did really well and I would just like to give them a bit more support in terms of a few quality bodies. But, in the main, it will be the squad that did really well for us last season.”

Former Cherries striker Danny Ings, signed by Howe when he was manager at Burnley, remains the only other confirmed target for the club having had one bid rejected by the Clarets earlier this month.

Our sister paper the Southern Daily Echo yesterday linked Cherries with a season-long loan move for Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse.

Meanwhile, Cherries today announced goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan had signed his new 12-month contract with the club.

Flahavan and midfielder Joe Partington were both offered terms by Howe when he revealed his retained list at the start of last month.

Partington is expected to pen his new two-year contract at Dean Court later today.