The chances of Manchester United target Owen Hargreaves leaving Bayern Munich in the summer have become even more remote with the Bundesliga champions set to lose the services of several midfielders.
On Tuesday, Sebastian Deisler announced his immediate retirement and that, coupled with the impending transfer of Ali Karimi to Al-Ahli, has left Bayern short of cover in the squad.
The situation will become more acute in the summer when Mehmet Scholl intends to retire and Hasan Salihamidzic will complete an agreed move to Juventus.
That will leave Bayern with just four recognised midfielders in Mark van Bommel, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Andreas Ottl and Hargreaves.
Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness has indicated that the situation will mean that players will not be allowed to leave.
"It is not the case that we are care-free," he said.
"We have got to start being careful with our squad."
Instead, Bayern will themselves be in the market for midfield reinforcements, but Hoeness added that academy prospects would also be given their chance.
"Sometimes enforced restructuring like this is not a bad solution," he said.
Stefan Furstner, 19, recently earned his first professional contract and he will now attempt to follow in Hargreaves' footsteps by graduating from the academy to become a first-team regular.
"The young players must take on more responsibility," said Hoeness, who suggested he would rather use players already at the club rather than make panic buys.
"(Bayern) will not be making any knee-jerk reactions", he added.