Pep Guardiola was bending the truth when he declared at the start of January that Manchester City wouldn't sign a new striker this month.
Having just sold Ferran Torres to Barcelona, with the forward asking to leave to return to Spain, the obvious question was whether City would replace him this month - especially having just pocketed an initial profit of £26million on the player.
Guardiola was clear that City wouldn't be making a big striker signing, even though the club are still to replace Sergio Aguero. The club are always reluctant to deal in January given the lack of value available but are not completely against doing business this month if the right player comes along.
And it appears that exact scenario has happened, with River Plate striker Julian Alvarez set to join before Monday's transfer deadline. He will initially be loaned back to River, if he signs, to arrive at City later in 2022.
The prolific 21-year-old is a full Argentine international, and is effectively a replacement for Torres rather than the next Aguero. That leaves scope for a big signing in the summer, whether it be Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, or someone else.
City could use Alvarez as they developed Torres - easing him in and giving him chances in the lower-priority games rather than throw him in at the deep end.
It's a tried and tested model for new players, with Gabriel Jesus working his way up in a similar manner. The only problem is, what message does it send to players like Cole Palmer?
Academy product Palmer has now outgrown under-23 football and is a genuine first-team player, taking his chances when handed to him in the cups or at the end of Premier League games. Torres' injury and departure helped him get some of those opportunities, and he's run with them.
Fans love him, and he could be the academy's best hope of developing a regular City first-teamer since Phil Foden. Liam Delap and James McAtee are others with that potential in the attacking areas, even if the competition is fierce with multiple world-class options in every position.
With Torres gone, Palmer has a chance to feature more for Guardiola and show he has what it takes to follow Foden into the best team in the country.
However, Alvarez adds another obstacle in the path of those EDS players hoping to break through, as do the signings of youngsters like Kayky. For City's most talented generation of homegrown players in years, it's becoming harder than ever to establish themselves in the senior setup.
But that's the flip-side of playing for City.
One on hand, you get the best footballing education available in England, and if you're good enough Guardiola will involve you in senior training and matchday squads.
However, the club won't stand still and sacrifice their never-ending ambitions for success for one homegrown player, and if there is a talented player available in that position, they have shown they are not going to hesitate in signing them - even if it could halt the development of Palmer, Delap, McAtee and others.
For those players like Palmer, they must take on that challenge and show they are always willing to improve and not rest on any successes so far. City have made it clear that to play for them they need to earn it, and then keep earning it.
Simply graduating from the academy isn't good enough anymore.
