Swansea City boss Carlos Carvalhal has cast his net out far and wide in attempt to catch some 'lobster' but he admits he may have to settle for 'seabass'.
The Portuguese isn't going to crab about missed targets in the January transfer window but is pretty hopeful that he can bolster his options at the Liberty Stadium by splashing some cash.
"I ask a colleague, a coach, manager in another country about one player and he told me, no...this player you can't [have] because even the premier clubs want him and maybe he moves to China or something so it's not possible," Carvalhal told Sky Sports News when asked about potential targets this month.
"It's why I said, listen, I want lobster when we have money [for] sardines or seabass but I tried the lobster first! Instead I go to another level so I'm trying to [get] the best players that we can. I start from the top of course, to try to bring the players that can really improve the team. It's why I tried with my colleague [to get] that player.
"Even we will not achieve [a transfer for] the lobsters because lobsters are [Lionel] Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and so on. But maybe we can achieve some seabass [for the] price of sardines sometimes. Let's see what will happen in the next [few] days, if we can achieve good players. I have some expectation that we can achieve two or three players with quality."
The Swans are currently anchored to the bottom of the Premier League table, four points from safety, and will need reinforcements soon if they are to avoid sinking into the Championship.
