As Chelsea try to coax Diego Costa back to work in London, there lurks a lesson in Premier League history.
Costa has been AWOL in Brazil for a month and told Sportsmail this week he was prepared to sit tight for a year if necessary, paying the fines and training alone until a transfer to Atletico Madrid materialises.
Antonio Conte does not want him, having lost faith and replaced him with Alvaro Morata, but Chelsea have ordered Costa to return, get match-fit and challenge for a place in the first team.
In the Bosman era, corporate minds in the boardroom will eventually turn to money and, in a stand-off such as this, to the tumbling valuation of their player.