West Ham United have said that they are unlikely to make high-profile signings during the summer because they want to give their younger players an opportunity to develop. The Barclays Premier League club have decided to rein in their transfer spending after the excesses of last year. As many as ten players are more likely to be made available for sale to trim the squad to about 20 players.

Scott Duxbury, the chief executive, said that the club believe that the squad will be strong enough to compete for a European place next season once several of the players who have been missing with long-term injuries return to action. Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker and Kieron Dyer have hardly featured because of serious injuries during this campaign after signing for the club in the summer.

“I think when all our players are fit and we can play Dean Ashton up front with Craig Bellamy or Freddie Sears, when Julien Faubert gets a chance, when we can play Scott Parker and Kieron Dyer in midfield, then we are capable of making the top six, and that is our aim,” Duxbury said. “I think there will be money for signings, but I am not sure we want to use it.”

The club spent about £18 million in the January transfer window last season and about £30 million in the summer, although much of that was recouped in sales. The summer arrivals, such as Fredrik Ljungberg, Parker, Bellamy and Dyer, signed for relatively high wages as the club made a considerable investment in the expectation of success. The club did not sign a player in the January transfer window.

“If we bring in big-money signings, then we are not going to see the players who we have already get a chance to show what they can do,” Duxbury said. “What sort of message are we sending out to Sears if we buy another big-money striker? Obviously, we will look to bring in players where we need a bit of cover, but perhaps we will bring in a younger striker and let him learn from the more experienced players.”

The club have also suspended contract talks with Lucas Neill and Ashton until the summer. Neill, the captain whose contract runs out at the end of next season, has been seeking parity in salary with other players at the club, who are earning about £74,000 a week. The club would prefer to wait for Ashton – who has been plagued by injury – to return to the kind of form that earned him an England call-up before extending his deal, which has two years remaining.

Duxbury added that the club’s position was not affected by the present difficulties in the banking sector. Björgólfur Gudmundsson, the West Ham chairman, has a significant stake in Landsbanki, an Icelandic bank. “I think his wealth has gone down from £1.2 billion to £1.1 billion, so I don’t think he has too much to worry about,” Duxbury said.