The image that comes to mind of Manchester United's transfer window so far is an imaginary one, of football director John Murtough spinning several plates in the air and hoping one doesn't crash back down to earth.
As one Old Trafford source said of the summer window this week, "it's complicated". It could be a relationship status for the 2020s but actually described United's attempts to strengthen Erik ten Hag's squad this summer.
Mason Mount will be the first signing for an initial fee of £55million but a goalkeeper and a striker are likely to follow and if Ten Hag gets his way there will be more. All of that needs to be achieved on an initial budget of £100million to £120million and at the moment the direction of travel is unclear.
A goalkeeper is wanted, but a No.1 or a No.2? And what happens to Dean Henderson, never mind David de Gea? Ten Hag wants Harry Kane but that's not happening, so who comes next?
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ALSO READ: United considering second midfield transfer after Mount deal
No wonder there is a desire to boost the budget through sales and Mount's arrival should accelerate Fred's departure if a fee can be agreed with Fulham. Mount is the younger, more energetic midfield presence Ten Hag craved, but his reshaping of that area of his squad might not end there.
If it's Mount in and Fred out, then United will be happy with what they've got. But they continue to track defensive midfielders, including Sofyan Amrabat of Fiorentina and Southampton's Romeo Lavia. They are names in the frame if Scott McTominay is sold at some point in this window.
At the moment, the Manchester Evening News understands the Scot is more likely to stay than leave, but there is a reason alternatives are being considered and a sale hasn't been ruled out.
Chelsea's £600million spending spree under Todd Boehly and the unprecedented length of contracts handed out to new signings has seen the word amortisation enter the mainstream football lexicon, but it is an accounting technique clubs are becoming increasingly familiar with and reliant on as financial fair play rules tighten.
United's own limited budget this summer is due to FFP concerns, with UEFA and the Premier League introducing controls on squad cost or limits on losses to try and rein in spending and the financial risks being taken by clubs.
Amortisation is how clubs account for transfers in and out in accounting terms. When a player is signed the fee is spread across the length of his contract, so Mount's £55million fee will be booked at £11m a year across his five-year deal. But if a player is sold the full transfer fee is registered immediately, minus the amortised value left on the books.
So if United sold Mount in the final year of his contract for £50million, they would register a £39million profit in that year's accounts.
But the most important aspect when considering United's stance with McTominay is that the sale of academy graduates goes down as pure profit, as there was no cost in bringing them to the club. So if McTominay was sold for £30million this summer, that fee would be £30million profit in accounting terms for the year starting July 1, 2023.
To continue with a simple example, if Sofyan Amrabat was signed to replace him for £30million on a four-year contract, his amortisation fee this year would be £7.5million, so his fee would come up as four instalments of £7.5million in the club's accounts. In FFP terms that's a profit of £23.5million this year and a very favourable outcome.
The process of amortisation and how it can help balance the books has become more of a talking point recently, but Dr. Rob Wilson, a football finance expert and head of finance, accounting and business systems at Sheffield Hallam University, believes it is a result of more questions being asked and interest taken in how clubs are getting round regulations.
"It's probably because you guys in the media have started to ask more questions about it," he said. "We've been talking about amortisation for probably a decade, but it's piqued some interest now in terms of how it works. The more the regulations begin to bite the more clubs will start looking at how they can get around it."
The example with McTominay is also an indicator of why Chelsea were determined to drive such a hard bargain for Mount, despite his contract status. They will bank £55millon in profit into this year's accounts as a result.
Amortisation is considered with every transfer and to use Harry Maguire as an example as one of United's most high-profile signings of recent seasons, but also someone who could leave this summer, United could yet record a sale as a profit.
His £80million fee was spread across the six-year contract he signed in 2019, so has around £26.6million left in book value. If he was sold for anything above that fee this summer, then the club would record a profit.
"If he was sold for around £30milliom, that would add around £5million back into the FFP budget," said Wilson. "If you think about it it's because they're always depreciating assets, unless you pick up a player at 23 or 24, which is why the Mount deal is a bit of a coup for United, because his value could still accelerate if he does really well.
"Maguire was bought at the peak of value and was only going to go down anyway, regardless of player performance."
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