Loan or transfer, we’re still paying him to leave. If he’s contracted to 2021, he’s due c. 2-3m. The only question is how much will a new club pay him to play for them. Say it’s £1m per season. That £1m becomes a contribution to his wages via a loan deal (we pay the balance). Or all parties agree to a free transfer, he signs a new contract on £1m pa. But he won’t agree to that unless we pay him some or all of the balance of wages that he’d have been due ... So either way, we pay him the £1-2m difference between what he’s on now and what he’ll get from a new club. Transferring club will prefer a loan as they don’t then take the risk of signing him to a long contract and finding out after 3 months that he’s (still) rubbish.