Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson says the club faces a challenging summer in upgrading the squad.
Palace failed to buy any new players in the January transfer window, with on-loan Everton forward Cenk Tosun the only arrival.
Moves for Hull City striker Jarrod Bowen and West Brom right-back Nathan Ferguson did not materialise on deadline day.
Palace’s threadbare squad is one of the oldest in the Premier League and Hodgson has warned the club owners they need to have a clear strategy for the club’s future.
The 72-year-old former England manager’s own future is also up in the air with his contract expiring at the end of the season.
“I think the club is aware of our situation,” said Hodgson. “Signing players is not an easy thing to do. Going out and throwing a lot of money around is an easy thing to do and we have lots and lots of examples of it.
“But I think we know as a football club that we need to make more inroads into improving our squad and rejuvenating our squad, and bringing in some fresh faces. Because an awful lot of the faces that I work with every day, they were here when I came to the club and I inherited them.
“So everyone is on the same page as far as that’s concerned. And I think now Steve Parish, Doug Freedman and the American owners, they are going to have to do a lot of thinking, alongside myself and the coaching staff about what the best way forward is.
“And in the next transfer window what we are going to try and do is to make sure this team gets stronger and to try and ensure, if we stay up this year and we still have a lot to do to ensure that, if we do stay up this year we are going into the next year with a bit more power and a bit more grease to our elbow.”