Southampton will pocket a sizeable sum if Mateus Fernandes moves on from West Ham this summer. On the surface, it looks like welcome news for a club desperately in need of something to smile about.
Do not be fooled. It will not go anywhere near far enough.
The 15% sell-on clause inserted into Fernandes' deal looks shrewd in hindsight. If West Ham stay up and command the reported £80 million fee, Southampton stand to receive around £12 million.
Even at the lower end, should the Hammers go down and Fernandes move for £40 million, the Saints would still bank somewhere around £6 million.
In normal circumstances, that represents a genuinely healthy return on a player who left St Mary's without fulfilling his potential at the club.
These are not normal circumstances.
The true cost of cheating
Missing out on Premier League promotion is not simply a sporting disappointment. It is a financial catastrophe.
Promotion to the top flight brings potential parachute payments, increased matchday revenue, vastly superior television rights money and the commercial uplift that comes with playing at the highest level.
The gap between Championship and Premier League income runs into hundreds of millions of pounds annually.
Southampton were 90 minutes away from all of that. They threw it away not through poor performance on the pitch, but through a calculated, deliberate decision to cheat.
The commission's own written findings described it as a contrived plan from the top down to gain a competitive advantage.
Whatever Fernandes generates this summer, it will be swallowed almost immediately by the financial void that spygate has created.
The bills are still stacking up
The four-point deduction for next season adds another layer of damage. Starting a Championship campaign behind before a ball has been kicked hits confidence at a time when the squad is already unsettled.
Caspar Jander reportedly wants out, according to German outlet Bild. More players are expected to follow. Replacing them costs money that Southampton does not have in abundance, and attracting quality recruits to a club mired in controversy will not be straightforward.
Then there is the matter of the dressing room itself.
Players are reportedly consulting the Professional Footballers' Association about their options. The Daily Mail reported that some are considering legal action over lost bonus payments and wage restoration that was tied to promotion.
Several may have grounds to argue their contracts were fundamentally undermined by the club's conduct.
If those claims progress, the financial consequences for Southampton could dwarf anything the Fernandes windfall brings in.
A £12million sell-on clause sounds like good business. Set against the full cost of spygate, lost Premier League revenue, potential legal claims and a squad that needs rebuilding from near enough scratch, it barely registers.
Southampton brought this upon themselves. And they will be paying for it long after the Fernandes cheque has cleared.
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