During his six years in charge of England, Eriksson saw hundreds of Premier League games.

Yet none of the $75million he has spent on eight new players in just under a month at City has gone on anyone he has seen playing in the top flight, let alone someone he could have actually picked for national service.

The latest new arrival, striker Valeri Bojinov, doubles his Bulgarian contingent to two, while his Europe-wide sweep also includes a Croat, a Swiss, an Italian, a Spaniard and two Brazilians.

There is still time for an English recruit, as Eriksson confirmed there should be at least one more new face on show next week.

But he acknowledged the sky-high price tags attached to domestic talent are proving prohibitive.

"Of course there are a lot of good English players," he said.

"I have no doubt about that. But if you want to buy the best young English players, the prices are over the roof.

"We have been looking and you will have to see if we sign one or not. But in any case, when the season starts we will have eight or nine British or Irish players, which is a good number."

The three weeks since Eriksson succeeded Stuart Pearce as manager have been like a whirlwind around Eastlands.

Barely a day has gone by without the Swede being linked to one player or another.

New owner Thaksin Shinawatra, who has bankrolled the heavy investment, stood at the back of the room as Eriksson assessed the present situation ahead of tomorrow's friendly with Valencia.

And, just over a week away from his first league game as an English club boss, Eriksson admitted there is still a lot of work to do.

"The shopping time is almost over," he said.

"Now we have to show we are a good football team.

"I don't know how long it will be for the players to reach their peak, hopefully not a long time.

"We have tried to buy intelligent and clever players, so that should quicken up the process.

"But, of course, football is not that easy. You can't just buy a lot of players, put them onto the pitch and say 'good luck'."

After assaulting the transfer market, spending sums that Pearce could only have dreamed of, Eriksson also recognises the need to offload a few as well.

Twenty-seven outfield players left the City boss needing two training pitches at Carrington, so the likes of Danny Mills, namesake Matthew, Ishmael Miller, Darius Vassell and Paul Dickov cannot bank on a long-term Blues future.

The same is also true of Greece international Georgios Samaras, a man Pearce invested so much cash, time and effort on but who, apparently, does not meet with Eriksson's approval.

Thaksin is clearly happy to back his manager's judgement and appears wholly satisfied with the work Eriksson has done so far.

He did not even look embarrassed when his new manager mistakenly asked Bojinov why he had signed for Manchester United during this afternoon's press conference, an ironic slip of the tongue given Eriksson was lined up to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford in 2002.

The former Thai prime minister has high standards though and has already targeted a top-10 finish this season, a European spot the year after and a sustained challenge for honours 12 months after that.

Along with City's entire first-team squad, the pair will attend a free concert in Manchester city centre, funded by Thaksin, which will also feature a guest appearance from world light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton as well as free Thai food for all party-goers.

The move should help generate some positive publicity for Thaksin, who continues to face a barrage of damaging allegations in Thailand.

But Eriksson knows his own judgement day comes at West Ham on August 11 - and he cannot wait.

"I have not set my targets yet," he said.

"I will have a better idea on that next week when I know what my squad is going to be.

"But I do know there will be pressure. Pressure is always there in football.

"As a manager, that is what you want. The more pressure, the more I like it."