Everton manager Sean Dyche has spoken of the difficulties regarding player recruitment at the club.
The Blues were not able to secure a single player, not even a loan or free agent, late in the January transfer window.
Dyche has to work with an entire squad of players he did not sign, but must do what it takes to avoid relegation.
Asked about recruitment plans for the future, Dyche said: I am learning about the past, the decisions, the rights and wrongs, ins and outs.
It is very difficult, for sure, by the way, recruitment. I think over the years we have all seen, not just Everton, clubs in general have put lots of money into a situation and it doesn't always work.
It is very difficult in general recruitment. I have said many times in the years I have been in the Premier League that the market doesn't care what we think anymore.
You either pay it or you don't pay it. We could all probably chat through a certain player and probably come out with a similar view on their worth. Now it is out the window and you just pay what a club wants or don't pay, so that can be tricky.
Going forward I think open lines of communication with all the relevant people involved and define the best options we can get."
He added: From what I have seen, you say about the priorities, but every situation has to be looked at because we are overloaded in certain areas. So it has to be looked at with that as well.
Of course striking options, that is plain to see and everybody knows that. But it is just not about striking options, it is about forming a group that can be stronger going forwards.
I think there is a good group. I said that when I got here. A lot of noise made about strikers and I understand why, and the importance of.
But at the end of the day, there are some very good footballers here. I wouldn't go far away from looking at that and how can we adjust that is the ongoing way football works.
How we can adjust that positively and how we can keep increasing the team's belief and the team capacity in winning games, obviously."