Everton encountered numerous transfer misses on deadline day as they scrambled to answer their attacking woes with absolutely any viable candidate.
That scattergun approach offered an embarrassing insight into either the lack of planning by Kevin Thelwell or more likely the lack of funding from Farhad Moshiri.
This catastrophic failure came just one week after the Iranian billionaire had claimed: "We need a striker, and we will get one. We strengthen the team and I have no doubt the second half of the season will be stronger. Any deficiency in team performance will be dealt with - that is the objective. The objective will be achieved, together."
The Toffees desperately needed a striker, and Sean Dyche did not get one, even though across what was a manic deadline day, many links surfaced which only exacerbated the club's desperation.
This manifested in a last-ditch attempt to secure Jean-Philippe Mateta on loan from Crystal Palace, which ultimately failed.
Having tried for a number of high-profile talents across Europe, this truly marked Thelwell scraping the bottom of the barrel as he had clearly exercised all his options.
The Frenchman has struggled this season for the Eagles, and should this deal have gone through, it begs the question as to where he would have played.
He hardly represents a big upgrade on academy graduate Ellis Simms, who Frank Lampard had recalled in late December from his loan spell at Sunderland.
The 22-year-old had scored seven times in 17 Championship appearances, setting up a further two goals despite creating five big chances. This had culminated in a 7.03 average Sofascore rating for a season which was made even more impressive by the injury concerns he had overcome.
To compare this with Mateta, who has made 16 league appearances this season with just one goal to his name, it makes the recruitment policy seem even more questionable.
Despite earning "cult hero" status at Selhurst Park for how he revived his career, which reporter Alex Howell noted, this was only due to just how poorly he had started since his £9m move two years ago.
In his time in England, his highest goal tally in a Premier League campaign is just five, and the only time he has hit double figures in one of Europe's top five leagues was 2018/19, when he bagged 14 goals in the Bundesliga.
He is in far worse form than Simms, and it seems that the only advantage that Mateta would have provided is greater top-flight experience than the Toffees youngster.
Even when it comes to aerial duels, as the youngster boasts a 47% success rate, which again tops that of the Palace striker's 43%. That could be a vital edge given Dyche's reputation as a 'long ball' manager from his time at Burnley.
Of all the January moves that Everton missed out upon, they can count themselves lucky that this was the one which didn't go through.