It seems José Mourinho might have picked up a thing or two about maximising transfer fees during his second spell at Chelsea.
The Portuguese was in charge at Stamford Bridge when the club made profits on the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and André Schürrle, despite each of the players being deemed surplus to requirements.
And now, in his role as Manchester United manager, Mourinho looks poised once more to command a healthy fee for a player who he regards as a back-up.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Morgan Schneiderlin cost United £24m when he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2015, and the club look set to recoup almost all of that.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Everton have agreed a £22m fee for the Frenchman, who would be reunited with his former Southampton boss Ronald Koeman.
The paper notes that the Toffees could end up ultimately paying £24m, depending on performance-related add-ons.
And, while Schneiderlin may be an established Premier League midfielder, some remain impressed by the selling club’s ability to bring in more than £20m for someone with less than 15 minutes of top-flight football to his name this season.
The fact United got £22m for Schneiderlin considering he's played 6 PL minutes, is nothing short of a miracle. Never get player value!
— Scotty Tridge (@TridgeTV) January 10, 2017
£22m for Schneiderlin is pretty damn good considering how incredibly low the club had been selling players off for!! #MUFC
— Nelson (@AzumaNelson) January 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/PogbaAce/status/818913583245524992
https://twitter.com/Manchain_88/status/818903648268931072
How have we blagged 22m for schneiderlin when we only payed 24m. Miracle
— Ryan Davies (@RyanNannuDavies) January 10, 2017
