The January transfer window will present Premier League clubs with a balancing act between sanctioning departures of wantaway players and keeping a squad strong enough to deal with any potential Covid-19 outbreaks.
Premier League figures show there were 90 positive tests amongst players and staff in the league last week and as the Omicron variant spreads further there's a chance that will rise.
Nine fixtures were called off last week but the Premier League is pressing ahead with its festive schedule. Manchester United players have returned to Carrington in smaller groups this week as they step up preparations for the trip to Newcastle on December 27.
In amongst the uncertainty at the moment, the January window is looming into view. United would like to add a holding midfielder to Ralf Rangnick's squad but their bigger decisions could be around outgoings.
In a bid to keep the show on the road the Premier League has reaffirmed its rules around postponements, telling clubs this week that if they have 14 players available, including a goalkeeper, then games will be on. If league chiefs aim to run a tighter ship with regards to postponements then that could force clubs into caution when it comes to the size of their squads.
United had just nine players available for the trip to Brentford eight days ago and then only seven for the Old Trafford fixture with Brighton, but if they have less severe outbreaks in the second half of the season they might have to play games with weakened squads.
That could instruct their thinking when it comes to potential departures next month. Dean Henderson, Donny van de Beek, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial could all be eyeing more regular first-team football after finding opportunities limited at United. The fact the World Cup is now just 11 months ago will also condition their desire to play more regularly.
United certainly won't let all four of those players go. Lingard may prefer to assess his options when his contract expires in the summer, for starters. But Martial's agent, Philippe Lamboley, has already made his intentions clear when it comes to his client wanting to leave in January.
That adds another factor into the equation, especially for a new manager, and that's the risk of keeping unhappy players in a squad.
Managers now have a grasp on the dynamic within a group and Rangnick's decision to add a sports psychologist to his backroom staff, in Sascha Lense, is evidence of that. The general theory is that it only takes one or two disenfranchised players to drag the mood down and affect the energy of the rest of the squad.
That's something Rangnick has to avoid at Carrington, especially with those players not in his team. He's named the same team for both of his Premier League fixtures so far and keeping those on the fringes happy is a major challenge.
If a player has already made his mind up on an exit then sometimes it can be the best course of action for the squad. That could be the case with Martial next month.
In Rangnick's 4-2-2-2 formation the only role for the 26-year-old is in attack, but he will be behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani and probably Mason Greenwood for one of those positions.
United will struggle to get a permanent transfer for Martial mid-season and with the threat of further Covid outbreaks between now and the end of the season there might be some logic to keeping him in the squad, but Rangnick needs full buy-in from all his players in his attempts to change the playing style and sometimes less is more when it comes to maintaining that commitment and energy on the training ground.
