The arrival of Manuel Da Costa from Fiorentina seems likely to have been allowed Gianfranco Zola to sacrifice James Collins in order to free up more funds to bring in at least one striker.
Collins is said to be close to agreeing a £5 million deal with Aston Villa after rejecting the chance to join Stoke City last week.
If the deal goes through it could pave the way for the arrival of Marouane Chamakh and/or Mario Baloteli.