Swansea City have plenty of work to do having entered the final week of the January transfer window.
A total of five players have left the club while they are yet to sign a player, with the recall of Morgan Whittaker from Plymouth Argyle being the only addition to the squad.
The futures of Michael Obafemi, Jamie Paterson and Whittaker are key to whatever unfolds over the coming days.
Burnley had a pair of bids for Obafemi rejected by the Swans earlier this month and may well have turned their attention elsewhere after being unwilling to meet the asking price for the Republic of Ireland international.
As for Paterson, Coventry City have been interested in a move for the playmaker, although the Swans have not received concrete offers for the 31-year-old.
And then there's Whittaker. Speaking after the draw with Queens Park Rangers, Russell Martin said he does not expect the versatile attacker to join Rangers this month given how far apart the clubs are when it comes to agreeing a fee that would see the 22-year-old move to Ibrox.
"It just means it'll be a slower process, him trying to get back into the team if he's still here in 12 days or whatever it is, which I envisage him being," he said of Whittaker's absence at QPR.
Martin has regularly stated Swansea did not need to sell players to be able to recruit new ones this month, however, as the window has progressed, it appears as though some do need to leave for any signings to be made given that the squad balance could be massively impacted.
The ownership would, understandably so, almost certainly be unwilling to sanction a deal for a new striker if Obafemi and Whittaker are not sold.
A source close to Chiedozie Ogbene - who is Swansea's key target this month - last week told WalesOnline that a deal for the Rotherham United forward was looking increasingly unlikely, although not totally impossible.
Swansea have felt almost endless frustration when pursuing other striker options throughout the course of January, and they still have other positions to fill.
A right-sided defender remains a possibility, as does a goalkeeper following the crushing news of Steven Benda's knee injury.
And while Martin said he did not want to repeat the mistakes of previous transfer windows when it came to hurriedly adding players who were not ready to influence the first XI, it appears likely that any activity will take place in the final throes of the window.
With just three points separating Swansea and the play-off places and only five between them and third-placed Watford, the importance of the coming days cannot be understated.
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