The question that Manchester United have left Newcastle to ponder is a simple one: How valuable is Premier League survival to you?
Old Trafford chiefs are in no doubt that Jesse Lingard could play a pivotal role in completing that escape from the bottom three, a belief backed up by his superb performances at West Ham a year ago, if not his baffling underuse by successive United managers this season.
Lingard hit nine goals and registered four assists in 16 games for the Hammers and started the season with some sprightly performances off the bench for United, but somehow that wasn't deemed worthy of a start in an underperforming team.
Now the writing is on the wall. United will lose Lingard for nothing in the summer when they should have cashed in last year. The decision to keep him in an already bloated squad was baffling and is going to prove costly. United are continually showing themselves to be poor sellers, particularly when it comes to the timing of departures.
This window represents their last chance of bringing in some revenue for Lingard. United believe he would fetch around £50million if he was up for sale and was under a longer contract. That valuation is on the high side for a 29-year-old who can't get a game at Old Trafford, but then he does have 32 England caps and 240 Premier League appearances to his name.
United also insist he could prove invaluable to Newcastle, a club who have the wealth to pull off significant deals and who need survival to keep their ambitious plans under Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) on a smooth timetable.
Staying up this season is maybe worth £100million to Newcastle. It's a financial hit they can take and they would come straight back up, but it's more than a year taken off their attempts to be challenging at the top of the Premier League. Not only would it be a season out of the elite but it would mean signing a lesser calibre of player for at least one more year.
United's request for a 'survival bonus' has certainly stirred anger amongst Newcastle fans. There is an understandable wariness in the North East at the richest club in the world now being held to ransom, but bonuses are commonplace in football, both built into salaries and into transfer fees, such as winning the league, finishing in the top four, or in this case, staying up.
It's also worth remembering there are still five days left in the transfer window. This is all part of a negotiation, one which may well see Lingard in the black and white stripes by the end of the month. United might be trying to push the fee up at the moment but if talks resume there's always a chance of a settlement being reached.
There are similarities with Chris Smalling's move to Roma in the summer of 2020, a deal that was on the table all window but was only completed in the final hours. Smalling had a successful loan in Serie A the year before, was surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and wanted the move. There was a feeling United owed Smalling a move, but it's not going to make sense for a club to sell or loan their players to the first offer they get, but by the victims of negotiation when trying to buy players.
This is slightly different in that Lingard is leaving whatever happens in six months. Seeing how this season has panned out there may be a tinge of regret at not pushing harder for an exit last summer. He's not alone in this squad in believing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when the Norwegian told him he'd get chances.
Lingard and his camp will certainly be hoping a resolution is found before Monday's deadline. The player deserves the chance to go and play regular first-team football for six months, something it's clear he isn't going to get at Old Trafford.
Maybe United's demands are in the excessive category at the moment, but the only real sticking point is a survival bonus and its value. That's not an insurmountable hurdle and it's also not as outrageous a clause as has been suggested.
There's still time for all parties to get what they want from this.
