As it emerged last week that Yannick Carrasco and Nico Gaitan were leaving Atletico Madrid for Chinese Super League (CSL) side Dalian Yifang, coach Diego Simeone admitted the calls were not his to make.
"It is clear that I do not make the final decision, although I participate and give my opinion," he said.
Argentina playmaker Gaitan, 30, never settled at Atletico since joining from Benfica for €25 million in summer 2016. After just one La Liga start all season, potential moves to Swansea and Zenit Saint Petersburg broke down last month and he will not be badly missed.
However Carrasco was often a key member of the side during his three-and-a-half year years at the club, contributing 23 goals and 17 assists in 124 appearances in total, and scoring in the 2015-16 Champions League final against Real Madrid. There were some differences of opinion with his boss and teammates, however the 24-year-old's pace, directness and long-range shooting made him an option unlike anybody else in the squad.
"It would be an important loss, [Carrasco] is young, with a great future, important for our team," Simeone said last Thursday of a player linked with Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Manchester United in recent months. Before repeating: "These are decisions for the players and we will see if it happens or not."
Both Gaitan and Carrasco have now made up their minds and completed moves to the newly promoted CSL side. Most of the reporting around the transfers in Spain has focused on the financial incentives available to the players -- with claims that Carrasco's offer was worth a total of €70m. As his former teammate Diego Godin said on El Larguero on Monday night, such money is "practically impossible to turn down."
However it is just true that Atletico are badly in need of the €50m they are getting from selling two squad players, as well as the wages saved by having Carrasco and Gaitan off their books.
"Just like Carrasco himself does, we look for what is best for the club," Atletico president Enrique Cerezo said last week. "We would not put any barrier to stop him leaving. The door is open if he wants to go."
Atletico had always needed to balance the books in January after spending €100m on Spain internationals Diego Costa and Vitolo last summer. The team's surprise exit in the Champions League group stages would not have been budgeted for, however. And the move to their new Wanda Metropolitano stadium has also increased pressure on the finances.
Wheeling and dealing is nothing new for Atletico, who have regularly had to sell their best players even as Simeone's arrival brought success, which should in theory have helped stabilise affairs off the pitch. But the most recent figures show the club's debt has grown by over €200m to €541m in recent years, thanks in part to the extra costs involved in their stadium move.
Increases in club revenues have been matched by hikes in the wage bill -- with Simeone, Antoine Griezmann, Koke and Saul among those given big salary increases to ensure they remained at the club.
Recent weeks also brought a surprise development in Atletico's ownership structure, with Chinese group Wanda selling their shares in the club to Israel's Quantum Pacific Group (QPG) for €50m. This means QPG now owns 32 percent of the club, although Cerezo and chief executive Miguel Angel Gil still have a controlling interest between them. Confirming the change, Atletico maintained that the link with Wanda remains strong and will develop in the future.
In this context, it was interesting that Wanda are reportedly taking full ownership of Dalian Yifang for the new Chinese Super League season. Carrasco himself admitted that all the synergies involved had helped persuade him to make the move.
"I decided to leave Atletico to join up with the project of the Wanda group, a partner of Atletico, who I already know and who have decided to invest in Chinese football," the Belgium international said. "The sporting project of the group has convinced me and motivated my decision."
With Carrasco, Gaitan and Portugal international Jose Fonte also signed from West Ham this week, last year's Chinese second division champions are presumably expecting success in the top flight this year.
Meanwhile, back at Atletico, Simeone has to deal with a situation he presumably did not expect. January also saw midfielder Augusto Fernandez sold to Beijing Renhe for €4.5m and Luciano Vietto join Valencia on loan. Even with Costa and Vitolo now available since January, the Argentine has just 17 outfield players (plus three goalkeepers) for the remainder of the club's La Liga and Europa League campaigns.
It may have been just coincidence that Marca saw former player Tiago Mendes, who joined the coaching staff after retiring last summer aged 36, making up the numbers in a practice game at training in recent days.
Simeone never openly criticises his club's board in public, but it would be interesting to know his thoughts on their recent business dealings. As ever at Atletico, nothing is quite as straightforward as it seems.