The system in its current form isn’t working for anyone. Man United had their accountants operating at full throttle to dodge a PSR breach in 2023-24 and sales are needed to fund a root-and-branch revamp of the squad this summer.

It’s a familiar story for an increasing contingent of Premier League clubs.

Everton and Nottingham Forest are so far the only sides to have been penalised for breaching PSR, while Leicester City escaped on a technicality earlier this season. But Newcastle United, Aston Villa and – despite some very creative accounting making them seem bullet-proof – Chelsea have had to revise their business plans because of Profit and Sustainability Rules.

In football finance, retail therapy simply isn’t what it used to be.

As far as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers are concerned, the sentiment towards PSR at Old Trafford is mixed.

Ratcliffe has called plans to introduce an anchoring system wherein clubs would be limited to spending a multiple of what the Premier League’s bottom-placed club earns in TV money “absurd.”