St Mirren have been dealt a blow after missing out on striker target Alex Jakubiak.
The forward, who spent the second half of last season on loan with the Buddies, was released by Watford over the summer.
Manager Jim Goodwin was keen to bag the 23-year-old, who scored once in a 1-1 draw with Motherwell during his time with the Saints, on a permanent deal.
But during a Q&A with the club's supporters group and part-owners SMISA last night, he revealed the club had been priced out of a move for the talented striker.
He said: "I thought Alex and Jon Obika were a really good partnership with Alex dropping into the hole and linking the game up.
"We had conversations with Alex prior to him leaving and heading back to Watford. He's since left them.
"We contributed to his wages while he was on loan but the kind of money Alex and his agent were talking about quite frankly doesn't come into our budget.
"What Alex was on at Watford I can sign four players for so that gives some idea why he isn't here right now.
"We're constantly on the lookout for another striker because I do believe we need to have three in the squad to last the whole campaign.
"I'm confident in the coming weeks we'll add one more in that particular area. If we do add another then that will be us and I'll be delighted with that."
The Buddies still have just two recognised strikers in their squad, Jon Obika and Junior Morias, ahead of their season opener against Livingston this Saturday.
Goodwin has already spoken about his desire to lift the striking burden on last season's top goalscorer Obika this campaign.
