Was it a coded message from Erik ten Hag or just the stating of facts, that Manchester United have a January transfer window to come before they truly contemplate next summer?
The Dutchman's comments to MUTV about recruitment plans have certainly heightened interest in the mid-winter window. Ten Hag got what he wanted this summer and given most of his signings have started well, there may be a desire to push on and do more business in January.
United are eyeing a right-back, midfielder and forward still and they might have an eye on the January window as a possible opportunity for more manoeuvring.
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Ten Hag certainly felt it was worthy of a mention when he discussed his plans for this international break with MUTV last week.
"Always to use such breaks [is] useful," he said.. "We have many meetings, we have to improve the structures in and around the club, we will do.
"We will also look to the window in January or next summer already but also to improve our way of playing by making plans and, of course, this coming period with every third day a game we have to get ready for that."
United set a new benchmark for the summer window, spending around £225million on new arrivals. Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia and Christian Eriksen have all started well while time is on the side of Casemiro and Antony, who scored on his debut but has been a peripheral presence in three starts so far.
Ten Hag can certainly point to the success of those players who have had time to settle as a reason why he should get further backing, although there is a view in the industry that United ended up overpaying for their targets this summer, a situation exacerbated by their disastrous start and the desperation that followed.
The January window is certainly a period where desperation is at the fore. Elite clubs can sometimes do smart business in the middle of the season, as United can point to with Bruno Fernandes, but such examples are rare. Clubs looking to do significant business in the winter are usually doing it because the season isn't going to plan.
United will hope to keep their powder dry for next summer now. That will be an opportunity to assess what they need and make moves for the kind of world-class midfielder and centre-forward they might need. Players of that calibre are unlikely to be on the market in January.
The only real reason United should feel the need to make moves in January is if Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Cristiano Ronaldo leave the club. Other than that, this squad should be capable of seeing them through the season now.
Much of that will depend, however, on how the next eight Premier League games go. That is now all that is left before the break for the World Cup, with United then squeezing in games against Nottingham Forest and Wolves at the end of December.
To really attack next summer's window United will hope to have secured a return to the Champions League. A top-four finish is a priority this season and having been written off after two games, Ten Hag's side are now a point off the top four after six games, with a game in hand on some of their rivals.
If the next eight Premier League games go well - part of a run of 13 fixtures in 43 days - then United will hope to go into January confident of their chances of a Champions League return. If they go badly, they might feel they have to pull the emergency trigger to try and spend in the window.
Ten Hag will hope his team can carry the momentum of four successive wins into this stretch of games, but they will be tested. In that run, they place Manchester City, Everton and Chelsea away, as well as Newcastle, Tottenham and West Ham at home.
It's not easy and the presence of three games against fellow top-six sides makes it a real benchmark once again. Victories over Liverpool and Arsenal already have shown this team are capable of beating their rivals, but they need to do it on a consistent basis and in both of those games they had to weather heavy spells of pressure.
If they can get through this run with five wins and a draw or two they might consider it a success. It could be enough to hint that this squad is capable of finishing fourth without major reinforcements in January.
That is certainly the ideal outcome for United. The quality and availability of players is much better in the summer and that is when Ten Hag should be looking to implement the next phase of his Old Trafford rebuild.
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