The expectation is that Manchester City will reverse their normal habits as they attempt to embark on a busy window in the transfer market, but they do not want any of Pep Guardiola's top stars to leave the club.
Txiki Begiristain's last market as sporting director will be more eventful than the Basque would have imagined when he confirmed to the Premier League champion that he would leave at the end of the season.
That call was made in October (Sporting's Hugo Viana was quickly installed as his successor, initiating a concrete transfer process from February) when City were still unbeaten in all competitions.
What followed, two wins in 14 games, accelerated the planned rebuild of an aging team, most of which has admirers elsewhere.
Captain Kyle Walker and goalkeeper Ederson are the subject of interest from the Saudi Pro League, while Matheus Nunes and Jack Grealish remain question marks. James McAtee remains a hot property across Europe and Kevin De Bruyne has entered the final six months of his contract.
City, however, want to keep the core of Guardiola's team together for the time being, adding to that group rather than coming and going over the next four weeks. Even if a selection of pillars have underperformed.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City face a busy time in the transfer window as they look to rebuild
Two wins in 14 games have accelerated the planned upheaval of an aging team
Txiki Begiristain's last market as sports director will be more eventful than the Basque imagined
You suspect that the sales would arise as a result of a player making it known that he is desperate to leave and that the money on offer was deemed appropriate. In that sense, there will not be many changes in City's operation.
But there is money available to spend, as evidenced by healthy accounts published a few weeks ago, and sources told Mail Sport last month that Begiristain and Guardiola were interested in addressing three or four areas of concern: mainly central midfield, the rear and the forward. .
Frankfurt's Omar Marmoush, who has scored 18 goals in 24 games so far this season, is well-liked and offers the versatility to play anywhere on the front line. City is not the only English team that has controlled the Egyptian. And Atalanta's energetic Brazilian international Ederson is another of interest.
They are both 25 years old and in their prime, which represents something of an alteration in City's thinking. The most striking arrivals tend to be younger, developed under Guardiola as projects: Savinho, Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol, the three great examples of the last two summers.
Signed in 2023, Nunes and Mateo Kovacic were much more experienced so they were opposed to that idea, but they were originally seen as complements to what City already had in midfield.
The Premier League champions have realized that acquiring the right targets will not be an easy task in the middle of a campaign.
Looking specifically at the Marmoush and Ederson situations, Atalanta is pushing to win Serie A for the first time in its history and Frankfurt is eager to cement a spot in next year's Champions League. Losing its bright lights at this stage would be a bitter pill to swallow.
It could prove to be a tough job, but while he prefers a smaller team, Guardiola accepts he needs more numbers to fall back on given an injury crisis that cannot be overlooked when analyzing his worst run as a manager.
Omar Marmoush in Frankfurt, who has scored 18 goals in 24 games this season, is well liked
Atalanta's Brazilian international Ederson is another player City have interest in
Rodri and Oscar Bobb account for 34 of the collective 86 league games missed due to injury
Fifteen members of the team have suffered at least one physical problem this season: Stefan Ortega, Rico Lewis, Ilkay Gundogan, Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva are the only five who have remained injury-free.
This has meant City have missed a total of 86 league games through injury so far. That will increase further when they face West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Rodri and Oscar Bobb account for 34 of that number, with the latter hoping to return to the fold this month. Even ignoring that pair when calculating the sums, Guardiola has been missing an average of four players per league game all year.
That doesn't take into account the countless occasions over the past three months where players were asked to participate when they were only half fit and certainly not fit in a seemingly endless cycle.
“People were playing too many games,” De Bruyne reflected this week. “But they have to do it because if you don't have anyone else, you have to play.” “They took on the burden, I hope people come back and we get back into rhythm as a team.”
Guardiola has admitted that any new face will at least refresh the place and that is both for morale, which has understandably dropped, and to offer a bit of rest to Gundogan, Silva, Haaland or Lewis, 34, who have run towards the ground.
The chances of winning injury roulette increase the more balls circulate around the table. That is why, in City's view, they cannot contemplate letting many, if any, leave, regardless of individual form.