When Ed Woodward was overseeing Manchester United's recruitment in his role as executive vice chairman, he made no secret of his view that a transfer target with a release clause in their contract made life an awful lot easier.
It was one of the things that made Antoine Griezmann attractive in the summer of 2017. Woodward knew that it would take €100 million to buy out his agreement with Atlético Madrid, and so everyone -- both clubs and the player -- knew where they stood.
The Griezmann deal never materialized, because José Mourinho, fresh from winning the Carabao Cup and Europa League in his first season in charge at Old Trafford, chose to focus his available funds on other areas of the squad.