We are just days away from the closure of the January transfer window.
Cardiff City got some good work in early, with Leeds United's Cody Drameh and Manchester City prodigy Tommy Doyle brought in to bolster this ailing squad.
But the club hope their work is not done just yet. They know a crucial few days lie ahead and it could go a long way to salvaging the wreckage which has been their 2021/22 campaign.
The ultimate goal, of course, is to avoid relegation. Well, given the way this current crop have played so far this term, they need help in order to make that happen.
Here, we look through the best and worst-case scenarios for Cardiff before the window closes on January 31.
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Best
The first deal they need to get over the line is Ryan Giles. The Wolves wide man was recalled by the Molineux club at the start of the window as Bruno Lage assessed his squad during the peak of the Omicron Covid variant.
However, it now looks increasingly likely he will be allowed to leave again to gain more valuable game-time in the Championship in a bid to force his way into first-team contention at Wolves next season. Dion Sanderson on Tuesday was allowed to leave Wolves for QPR for the rest of the season, you'd expect Giles to be in that same bracket.
Cardiff believe they are at the front of the queue to take him back, despite a number of Championship clubs understood to be interested in him. After all, why wouldn't they be? He left lowly Cardiff as the league's highest assister.
Giles enjoyed his time at Cardiff and shares a good personal relationship with coach Steve Morison, with whom he played together at Shrewsbury Town back in 2019. This is the first deal that needs to be checked off.
Next, Cardiff want to add a forward player. It is understood that it is unlikely a winger will be added, meaning that a striker looks the most like position in which they will recruit.
Morison would ideally like a winger, but then Cardiff would have only one natural winger in the squad, making little sense. That is likely to be something which will be addressed in the summer.
Cardiff have opted for Premier League loans up until this point and that is certainly an avenue we could see them go down again. But do not discount a more experienced player coming in, if they are the right fit.
Uche Ikpeazu is a player Cardiff gave consideration to in the summer and is someone Morison likes. Chris Wilder up at Middlesbrough has made the player available for loan or sale this month and obviously the former would suit Cardiff as the player's wages are not thought to be particularly prohibitive. Whether he is still seriously on Cardiff's radar is as yet unknown.
Jonson Clarke-Harris is one who has been mooted in some reports, however Cardiff are highly unlikely to fork out a transfer fee for a player this month.
It looks just as likely, though, the forward player will be a Premier League loanee looking for game-time. It's worked out so far, with Giles, Drameh and Doyle offering encouragement, and another through the door should not be sniffed at.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly for many, is keeping hold of Kieffer Moore.
The sort of figure being bandied around for the Wales striker is completely incomparable to how much it would mean financially to Cardiff if he kept them in the league. If he was to be sold and they dropped into League One it would be an utter catastrophe.
While he has been off colour so far this term, he is still undoubtedly Cardiff's best player and is still central to how the Bluebirds play and their set-piece threat. He has the goals in the tank to keep them up.
On a lesser scale, it would be nice to see some of the fringe youngsters get out and see some game-time elsewhere. The likes of Sam Bowen, Kieron Evans and Keenan Patten getting a loan would be a bonus for the club.
Worst
The worst possible start to the upcoming days would be either for a rival club to swoop for Giles or Wolves to decide they need him for the back end of their season.
It would leave Cardiff incredibly short at left wing-back, with Perry Ng covering over there at the minute despite his undulating form.
Joel Bagan was thrown in a little bit at the start of the season and it was a steep learning curve for him. Without Giles, or another left back, he is the only natural option there and it's a big gamble to entrust him with that position week in, week out while Cardiff are fighting a relegation battle.
Fortunately, Cardiff are confident in their Giles pursuit, so fans will hope that remains the case and he can get back to the Welsh capital pronto.
Moore leaving would throw everything up in the air, really. It would leave Cardiff scrambling for two strikers and that is not a position they want to be in at the minute.
It's a mystery whether Moore's potential exit would mean money in the transfer pot. Vincent Tan's business empire has felt the nasty bite of the pandemic and the club has felt the ripples, too. With three lawsuits hanging over their head and all set to be thrashed out in the coming months, the financial situation is precarious at best.
The club are just hoping to get to the summer as a Championship club before hitting the big red reset button with this squad.
There are too many players who are too old and whose contracts are far too lucrative that the club need shot of. That, unfortunately, is why there is little scope to move any on in this window.
The players don't want to leave because of the size of their contracts and it puts off potential suitors, too. Cardiff would likely have to offer up a sum as some sort of sweetener to get a player to leave early and they just don't have the expendable funds to do that.
A situation could transpire in which Moore leaves and only a young loanee comes in to replace him, if Cardiff cannot pay for a suitable, permanent replacement, and that would represent a serious gamble with their future as a Championship club on the line.
It would be no disaster if no more youngsters went out on loan, however Cardiff's squad looks bloated in some areas and getting some out will help in the longer term as we turn an eye towards the summer.
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