By the time the clock hits 11pm tonight, Manchester United might have waved goodbye to four internationals on a temporary basis this month, with 83 caps for France, Holland and England between them.
Anthony Martial has already moved to Sevilla on loan and Donny van de Beek is close to joining Everton. Dean Henderson and Jesse Lingard could follow them, although only one could move to Newcastle. Lingard might end up seeing out the final six months of his United contract at Old Trafford now.
But the fact four players of that quality could be sent away on temporary moves is the clearest indication United's squad size is unsustainable. It also gives us a hint of what will be a busy summer at Old Trafford.
There is a desire to strengthen the squad with as many as four signings, but it's clear an elite central midfielder is top of the list, followed by either a right-back or a striker. But to find space for them there is a need to sell as well.
Lingard and Paul Pogba are expected to leave on free transfers but beyond that there could be more departures. Those deals could also swell the transfer budget. United spent around £120million on signing Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, but the spending in 2022 could go beyond that.
So any extra funds in the transfer kitty are a bonus and United are already some success in that regard. With Sevilla and Everton covering the wages of Martial and Van de Beek that is a saving of around £8million between now and the end of the season. A departure for one of Henderson or Lingard would take to more than £10million.
That is more than just pocket change and the deals have an added advantage in that they could put two players in the show window ahead of a potential sale this summer.
Van de Beek has failed to get a look in at Old Trafford, starting just four of 60 Premier League games since joining from Ajax. Martial has started just two Premier League games this season. Both pushed to leave in this window to play more often.
Neither loan has an option to buy, with United keen for their next permanent manager to have the final say on who he wants in his squad for next season, but both have got an awful lot to prove to earn another chance at Old Trafford.
Instead, the best course of action might be that they do enough to earn interest from elsewhere. United are unlikely to turn a profit on either given their struggles at the club, but successful loan spells could yet create a market for them.
Rangnick identified the size of the United squad as a problem early on in his reign and this month United have at least found a temporary solution. The German will benefit from working with a smaller group of players at Carrington and there will be less time spent dealing with players unhappy with their situations.
Speaking about the unhappy players at Old Trafford in the first week of January, Rangnick said: "When you have a big squad - and we have a big squad - at least, in the last two games, we had most players available. We had an issue with three centre-backs missing out against Wolves, but in general we had most of the players available, apart from Paul Pogba.
"And if you have that many players, ten [outfield] players can play, three being substituted [in], then you have quite a number of players - in our case 12, 13 or 14 - who don't even play or not are not even in the squad. Those players are unhappy about the situation, it's obvious, it's clear.
"In total, we have a big squad. I tend to explain to players every two or three weeks why they are not playing but obviously I cannot do that in every game and that is an issue in our team and other clubs."
Most modern managers want to work with a smaller squad now, something the club will have to address this summer. For that reason arrivals in January were never likely, especially when doing deals for a club of United's stature is extremely difficult mid-season.
It's in the summer when the focus will be on arrivals, but to make that a success United will have to be active with outgoings. January has been a good start.
