Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim had a peculiar way of encouraging Matheus Nunes during training sessions.
Amorim would often approach the young Portugal midfielder and tell him he needed to work harder than his colleagues. The reason was simple: Nunes had to pay for his manager's signing.
He was joking, albeit perhaps not entirely.
Having taken the unprecedented gamble of paying a fee of 10m euros for a coach whose top-flight experience was close to none, club president Frederico Varandas made a bold prediction as he denied any concern about the finances of the deal.
"I have absolutely no doubt that Nunes alone will pay for Amorim.