Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy has admitted he may have to sell his best players sooner rather than later if he is to rebuild his side.
McCarthy revealed he has already received a series of enquiries about his prize assets - striker Kevin Phillips and Thomas Sorensen.
"I've had a few calls about players - the ones you would expect, the so-called top players - so there is interest in them and I know that those players want to play in the Premier League," he said.
"I've tried to encourage clubs to get the business done as quickly as possible and we incorporate all that within the deal, because otherwise we have to carry on paying the salaries for longer.
"And the longer that nobody leaves, the longer I can't bring anyone in, so if we can get deals done as early as possible, then I can start signing new players," McCarthy said.
Debts of £26.6 million sterling and 83 redundancies within the club have brought into sharp focus the problems the Wearsiders face.
However, he has already identified a series of targets, one of whom could be Senegal international Ferdinand Coly, currently on loan at Birmingham from French side Lens.
"I've watched Birmingham reserves two or three times and Coly has donewell," McCarthy said.
"I like him, but you have to bear in mind we have got players like MattPiper, Jason McAteer and Thomas Butler down that side.
"He impressed me, but that's as far as it goes - I am always looking atplayers."