Bersant Celina (left) is one of five Swansea City recruits so far for the new season

Swansea City are confident that new loan signings will bolster their squad.

The Championship club's owners, Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan, have defended the lack of recruits before the transfer window shut last week.

But chief operating officer Chris Pearlman said he would be "surprised" if new players do not arrive before the loan window shuts on 31 August.

"We're looking at a handful of guys and I think everybody recognises that we're not as deep as we want to be," he said.

"It's difficult to say I can guarantee it, but having said that I'd be surprised if there weren't."

Fans have criticised the club for not investing in the squad, with five new players arriving while 14 have left the squad from last season, including out of contract South Korea captain Ki Sung-yueng and retired club great Leon Britton.

Crown defensive jewels Alfie Mawson and Lukasz Fabianski left earlier in the summer, while Federico Fernandez, Jordan Ayew, Jordi Amat and Sam Clucas all left on transfer deadline day.

The American owners say they had to make some tough financial decisions following last season's relegation from the Premier League and Pearlman confirmed that would still influence loan signings.

Centre-back Alfie Mawson joined Fulham from Swansea in a deal that could cost up to £20m

"We're going to do it in a smart way and we're not going to overpay for people that we don't think are worth the value that other clubs may do; we're paying for the value that we put on them and we can afford," he added.

"Our problems weren't solved financially in this window and our problems weren't solved in terms of who we wanted and needed to bring in this window. It's an evolving process.

"I've seen what's not coming in, which is about half of our turnover from last year so you've got to look at it that way.

"Everybody wishes we had more money to spend, everybody wishes the pain of relegation weren't so significant, everybody wishes we hadn't spent what we spent on some players in past transfer windows that aren't even on the team anymore or out on loan somewhere.

"I understand the frustration for sure, but what we did we needed to do.

"Hopefully if there's any supporters that can appreciate the perils of overspending and going into debt, teetering on the edge 15-17 years ago of insolvency, it's this club, because it's been there."

Despite the squad looking comparatively threadbare, new manager Graham Potter has led Swansea to back-to-back victories in their opening two Championship games - winning at Sheffield United on the opening day and beating Preston North End 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

The Swans are next in action at Birmingham City in the league on Friday, 17 August.