Football has evolved, however. In an age where a handful of mega-clubs dominate the highest level of the sport, and with an increasing majority of that continental elite-within-an-elite owned by institutions with almost unlimited spending power, can that definition of the term, ‘selling club’, still be said to have any meaning? Can a distinction really be made between those who sell, and those who do not?

Fans of clubs such as Liverpool and Manchester United, with venerated histories and bulging trophy cabinets, would be among the first to talk about these lesser institutions; more concerned with money than glory. Yet, we don’t have to look very far for an example of Liverpool dipping their own toe in this murky water. Just three months ago, Philippe Coutinho became the third most expensive player in world football having been sold to Barcelona for £142 million.

Now this is not to criticise Liverpool for deciding to sell; quite the opposite. In the circumstances, it was the right decision. Coutinho had set his heart on moving to the club most South American players grow up dreaming of playing for, and had already made an attempt to force a move the previous summer. Whilst he sat out with a sudden ‘thigh injury’, Barcelona players used the media to publicly tap him up, proclaiming how wonderful it would be if he could be allowed to join them.

Despite the fact that Coutinho had signed a new five-year contract just 12 months earlier, The Reds were faced with an increasingly common footballing version of Sophie’s choice: either force him to honour it, or sell against their wishes. Forcing a stay would potentially involve the threat of sending the playmaker down to the reserves should he go on strike and refuse to appear for the first team; in the process depriving themselves of their creative driving force with the risk of eventually losing him for far less than his value once his contract has run down. On the other hand, they could sell; despite their desire not to lose a talismanic player halfway through the season. When you weigh it up, the difference mostly boils down to whether or not they received £140m.

What this most recent saga really demonstrates is the realpolitik of modern transfers, and how few clubs have any choice in who they sell. Almost regardless of how big or rich your club can claim to be, or how long a contract a player is signed to, in the end, if another club wants to buy them and they want to go, they will go.

The allure of the two Spanish giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid, make them perhaps the only two clubs who can claim not to be ‘selling clubs’ in the modern era, and that’s very loosely related to their finances; the combination of their access to funds and the magical web spun by their storied heritage mean that even those who distinguish themselves at other giants will naturally look to them as the pinnacle of a career in football.

Just look at Chelsea, who can judge exactly when summer has begun each year by the sound of the rumour mill grinding into overdrive to link Hazard and Courtois with a move to Madrid. Similarly, at United, David de Gea is still seen as Real’s prince across the water, having famously been a delayed fax away from returning to his homeland in August 2015. Going as far back as 2008, Sir Alex Ferguson could only turn the full weight of his grandfatherly influence to convincing Cristiano Ronaldo to stay in Manchester for one more season, before departing to the Spanish capital to kick off the second Galactico era at Real.

The considerations that Liverpool had to weigh up over Coutinho were the same for Spurs when they sold Gareth Bale, Arsenal when they let Fabregas go, and Chelsea when Diego Costa absconded to Brazil during the season, refusing to return until granted a desired transfer back to Atletico Madrid. Even the great and mighty Barcelona found that they were not immune from this effect when Neymar, Messi’s heir-apparent and on-pitch consigliere, shocked the footballing world by engineering a world record £220m move to Paris ‘to escape Messi’s shadow’ and be crowned king of the Qatari government’s sexy new plaything, PSG.