Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert is battling to build a squad with the club up for sale.
The Birmingham Mail says the embattled manager does not have a war chest with which to rebuild his squad and must try to convince owner Randy Lerner to allow him to bring in free transfers.
Villa have been linked with a move for free agent Joleon Lescott and more fancifully Manchester United's Javier Hernandez.
Lambert will also face several weeks of speculation about some of the club's leading players, some of whom like Gabby Agbonlahor and Fabian Delph have just a year left on their contracts.
