Birmingham City manager Harry Redknapp has admitted to being left disappointed by John Terry's snub, vowing to respond to the setback by bringing in up to half-a-dozen new recruits.
Terry turned down an approach from the Blues to instead join city rivals Aston Villa, despite Redknapp offering the Chelsea legend wages of £100,000 a week.
The much-travelled boss has already brought in a few players this summer, most recently landing defender Marc Roberts from Barnsley, but he does not intend to stop there as he now has extra money to spend elsewhere on strengthening his squad.
"I have been a great John Terry fan forever, I think he is a fantastic player," he told talkSPORT. "I would be a liar to go 'Oh well I didn't want him anyway'.
"But after the initial offer we made John – we made him a great offer - I started to think maybe I need five or six players. Rather than putting all my eggs in one basket I can spread John's money and I can improve the squad more.
"They have signed a good player but I am hoping to sign five or six good players with the budget I had for John. If I can do five or six people it will give me a better all-round team rather than having one fantastic player."
Ravel Morrison could be the first of those to sign, having been given a chance to impress Redknapp on a trial basis.