For the better part of a decade, at least one leading Premier League team has devoted thousands of hours and kilowatts of brain power to answering what sounds, on the surface, like a simple question: How do you judge what any one player is actually worth?

Every conceivable variable is taken into account, the tangible and the intangible, the objective and the subjective. In addition to thousands of data points breaking down each player’s performance and output, factors like his age, position, nationality, length of contract and commercial value are fed into the equation. So, too, are the buying power of the player’s current club, and the cost of his peers and, adjusting for inflation, his predecessors.

The model is always being refined, but still, the club feels that it is as robust a valuation system as exists in soccer. It does not calculate a precise figure. Instead, it provides a guideline as to what might be a reasonable fee for any target the manager chooses to pursue, a general idea of that player’s actual economic value.

Those who have developed and fine-tuned the system know that figure rarely bears much relation to the price they will be quoted once soccer’s transfer window — that dizzying, desensitizing biannual bazaar — opens for business.