Man Utd reject Inter Milan’s swap transfer offer for Aaron Wan-Bissaka as they look to offload ace in contract stand-off

Instead, it’s all about loans – including loans with an obligation to buy in the summer – and even, now, potential swaps.

There have been plenty of swap deals in the past, of course, although only seven in Prem history and most of those involving a cash adjustment.

The most infamous – and far from successful – saw Arsenal exchange want-away Alexis Sanchez for Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan in 2018. Hard to argue it wasn’t a deal that saw both clubs lose.

But with the 10-point deduction for Everton – plus further charges for the Goodison side and Nottingham Forest – proving Prem Profitability and Sustainability Rules do have teeth, the old fashioned swap deal is back on the agenda.

It makes sense, too. You get to change players without risking financial breaches, although you do still have to take an outgoing player’s existing contract into account.

With Uefa’s new financial controls also tightening over the next two seasons, with clubs in European competitions forced to limit spending on transfers and wages to 70 per cent of their total revenues by 2025-26 – a concept the Prem is likely to mirror – the swap deal is once more a viable option.

Even with guaranteed TV income of more than £100m per season, Prem clubs have to keep a tighter rein on expenditure.

If that means finding more intelligent solutions, by identifying where an exchange deal might make sense for both clubs, then the bean counters are increasingly likely to give the green light.

We may never again see a Sanchez-Mkhitaryan level deal – although Ben Davies, who arrived at Spurs with Michel Vorm, as Gylfi Sigurdsson went the either way in 2014, is still in N17.

But such deals are no longer unthinkable or a concept from the past. They are very much on the table.