In 2004-05, the most profitable club in the Premier League was unfashionable Everton.
How did Merseyside’s second club outperform more illustrious rivals such as Arsenal and Manchester United, let alone Chelsea, which ran up a £140 million pre-tax loss on the way to lifting the Premier League title?
Four words: they sold Wayne Rooney, the teenage prodigy who had made Europe sit up and take notice at Euro 2004.
This simple fact reminds us of how long the careers of Rooney and David Moyes, the man picked to succeed the mighty Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, the club which bought Rooney, have been intertwined.