The signing of Trippier shows that the team can add quality players without paying a lot of money.
Eddie Howe has learned to laugh at the number of players linked with a team.
Since the beginning of January, it has amounted to more than 40 in the daily gossip column. You have wealthy Saudi Arabian owners and a desperate need to improve a squad in order to avoid being demoted.
Despite sitting second bottom of the league with only one win this season, the club have already made some progress.
The signing of England full-back Kieran Trippier from Atleti Madrid and the close of a deal for Chris Wood are the result of the hard work that manager Howe has spoken of.
The club have yet to sign any centre-backs, which has been the biggest problem this season. No club in the league has conceded more than 42 goals.
It is the top priority for the new owners.
An expert calls the January market a "nightmare" because clubs are reluctant to do business. The agents are trying to take advantage of the wealth in the area.
The club's season could be defined by the issues dealt with over the next few weeks.
We don't have a blank check.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is worth hundreds of billions of pounds and has no problem with money.
If the club is still looking to add to its squad or if it needs to convince Lille to sell, that could prove crucial.
Some fans think that paying a reported £25m for Wood, who is 30 and has scored three goals this season, might not represent great value. Others say he is a seasoned Premier League forward who can hit the ground running and that his move to St James' Park weakens a rival.
Mike Rigg, the former Manchester City technical director who guided the club's transfer policy after its own takeover in 2008, said it's about who is available.
He says that if a player strengthens the team and they stay in the league, it's a good signing.
It's difficult for clubs to agree to sell players in January when teams are competing for the top and unsure if they are safe.
It can be frightening. No-one wants to sell their best players unless you pay a fortune for them. You have to be prepared to pay over the odds.
The new owners can strike a good deal with Trippier's signing.
We don't have a blank cheque. We want to bring in the right players at the right price.
"If you see a player coming for financial gain, it won't work, but you also need very good players so it's a delicate combination for me to figure out."
It will be difficult to navigate this month, with the co-owner getting to grips with running the club, and the funds needing to be signed off in Saudi Arabia.
Huge resources will allow the club to be creative.
The "building and fixing phase" at Manchester City will last for the next couple of years. We were a mid-table team and didn't have a lot of negotiating power, so you have to make some compromises.
Who are the people interested in?
Diego Carlos of Sevilla and Sven Botman of Lille have been linked to the same place.
Lille's Dutch Under-21 international Botman has been linked with the club, along with Sevilla's Diego Carlos and James Tarkovski.
There was interest in Lucas Digne before he decided to join Villa, but he decided to join the club.
Despite Wood's arrival, there is still interest in other attackers to cover for Wilson. Bournemouth's Dominic Solanke, who has worked with Howe previously, and Bayer Leverkusen's Patrik Schick are other links that have been linked with Eddie Nketiah.
Todd Cantwell's future is in doubt, and there are links with him. Howe may be interested in Tanguy.
Howe wants to sign Trippier and others who are "up for the fight" and can see the long-term vision of the club.
"You want players to come for the feeling of playing for the club, the history and the chance to build something special," said Howe.
It may prove to be a tough sell.
What will success look like?
Some fans think Chris Wood is overpriced, but he provides cover for the injured Callum Wilson.
Many lessons will be learned this month by the owners of the company.
The club will be used as a market generator, with agents and clubs linking players to Howe's side in order to boost prices.
There are agent tricks. A player who is not contracted to the club might approach the club and say that they want to join. They will approach the player and say that they are interested in signing him.
It's difficult to find out who the real agent is when you make contact with the selling club. There are some really top agents out there, but there's a lot of chancers that don't have any connection to the player.
There is a risk in trying to sign too many players because they might not gel in time to help the team out of the drop zone.
Signing Trippier and Wood shows that the team is on the right track, according to him.
He says that they have to be prepared to walk away from things that aren't right. If they bring in one or two more like Kieran, they will be better than they are now.
"You have to be careful about going for big signings that don't really contribute, or low-key signings that are building for the future."
If they get demoted, I would want the players who are committed to being at the club to bounce back in my team.
"You need fighters now that they're in this situation."
The work in the transfer market is not over yet, and the hope is that it doesn't come to that.
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