Arsenal offloaded £17million midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga to Hamburg for a mere initial £260,000. The Belgian's contract at the Emirates was due to expire next summer and the Gunners were keen to shift him following loan stints with Crystal Palace, Luton Town and Sevilla, respectively.
The financial details of the 25-year-old's deadline-day exit were initially kept under wraps but German sources have now disclosed to the Mirror that the fee was as low as £260,000, although there are some bonuses involved.
Behind the scenes, Arsenal are striving to boost the amount of money the club generates through player sales - a factor that has become increasingly significant in the PSR era.
However, in this case, they believed it was best to remove Lokonga's wages from their payroll as he was not part of Mikel Arteta's plans.
Hamburg also have an option to purchase Arsenal loanee Fabio Vieira for over £17.4m (€20m).