If the challenge to Wellington Phoenix over losing captain Steven Taylor to retirement ahead of the new A-League season wasn't enough, the Kiwi club are looking at an even bigger headache in trying to replace him.
Earlier this week, Taylor surprisingly announced that he was retiring from football on the eve of the new A-League campaign, with the Phoenix set to relocate to Australia again.
Taylor's retirement leaves the Phoenix with two major issues - losing their best defender, as well as their captain.
What's more, New Zealand's managed isolation quarantine (MIQ) system means that the Phoenix won't be able to bring in a replacement until the January transfer window, at the earliest.
That would force the Phoenix to look locally for players, despite having up to three spots for overseas players still remaining on their roster.
"It's going to be a challenging season, we're trying to make it work as best we can," coach Ufuk Talay says.
"There's players that we're currently in talks with, there's players that we want to actually look to sign in the January window.
"At the moment, we can't sign players and bring them into New Zealand. Reno's [Piscopo] in Melbourne and we can't bring him across. Nicholas Pennington's currently in Italy and we can't bring him across.
"It's been challenging. We've had a lot of challenges being thrown in front of us. We just take it day by day.
"The only thing we can control is what we do out there on the park and the games we play on the weekend.
"For us, it's nothing new now. We need to learn from the past and try to make it as best we can."
But even after the loss of Taylor, Talay insists that himself and the Phoenix will cope, with players leaving simply being a reality of football.
"It's no setback," Talay says of Taylor's departure. "At the end of the day, we need to deal with the situation we're in.
"A player leaving is a player leaving at the end of the day, and we'll try to create the best scenario to replace that player.
"For me, players will come and go, coaches will come and go. The club will always be here.
"My job is to be able to replace him with the best possible player to move forward."
As to who Talay will give the armband to remains unclear, with the Phoenix's next skipper to be chosen over the coming weeks before departing for Australia.
"We'll see. We've got a bit more time before the season starts.
"We'll see who wants to step up and take that role."
The A-League's 2021/22 season will begin on October 29, with full fixtures still to be confirmed.
