Steve Bruce believes next month's transfer window could be the 'quietest' one yet but the Newcastle United head coach is monitoring those players who will be out of contract next summer.
Clubs are particularly keen to keep hold of their prized assets in January because there is so little time to replace them.
Newcastle did have a big-money bid accepted for Boubakary Soumare last January but the young midfielder ultimately decided to stay at Lille in order to keep his options open.
Although the Magpies did not make any permament signings in last season's mid-season window, Danny Rose, Nabil Bentaleb and Valentino Lazaro all arrived on loan.
Newcastle could yet return to the loan market next month but after speaking to some of his fellow managers, Bruce believes it will be a quiet window as clubs continue to count the cost of the pandemic.
"January is always a difficult month," Bruce told reporters on Zoom. "It’s very rare you get to a position where you get what you want in January.
"It was the same last January. We brought two or three loan players in that certainly helped us and keeping that money back allowed us to go and get [Callum] Wilson for example.
“Unless there is something there jumping out at us that we think can really drastically improve us, which you very rarely get in January, then I’ll be like most other managers and most other clubs where I think it’ll be very quiet.
"Arguably, it could be the quietest it’s ever been because of the problems that everybody’s having."
January 1 is not only the date the transfer window reopens. From New Year's Day, a number of Newcastle players, including Dwight Gayle, will be free to speak to overseas clubs about a Bosman transfer as they enter the final months of their contracts.
Newcastle targeted out of contract players last summer and the Magpies did not have to pay a transfer fee when they signed Ryan Fraser, Jeff Hendrick and Mark Gillespie.
The trio knew of the club's interest long before they eventually arrived - ChronicleLive understands Newcastle 'got into' Hendrick particularly 'early' - and that is a market the black-and-whites could well target in 2021, too.
"That will never stop, of course," Bruce added. "We're always on the lookout.
"It has been very difficult because my scouts can't get to games. We can watch the opposition but, as you can imagine, it's very difficult.
"But, make no mistake, we're monitoring Bosmans. We monitor the situation all the time and that will always be the case."
