Alan Pardew feels retaining the services of key personnel will ultimately prove to be of more benefit to Newcastle than bolstering their ranks.
The Magpies spent much of the summer chasing high-profile targets, with the likes of Luuk de Jong and Mathieu Debuchy heavily linked with moves to Tyneside.
Pardew struggled to put deals in place, meaning he must work with a squad similar to that which secured a fifth-place finish last season, but he insists that should not be considered a failure.
He feels keeping Demba Ba, Cheick Tiote, Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Be Arfa out of the clutches of a rival was just as important to Newcastle as bringing in new recruits.
"Maybe next week the fans will realise we haven't done badly to keep all our top players here," said Pardew.
"We have had to fend off a few approaches and we have done that, and we are well set for the season.
"Another year of experience, of course, should make us better this year - should."
Pardew has also conceded that he may be forced to make more of an effort to bring in fresh faces in January, with the Africa Cup of Nations set to rid Newcastle of the services of Ba, Tiote and Papiss Cisse.
"It's when the window is open, so we might have to look at that," he said.
"There's a big game in this international window for Newcastle. Really from my side, I don't really want Senegal to win.
"That's just on a selfish front, and I apologise to our Senegal fans, but that's just my opinion. It would give us a problem."
