Essentially we’re going to let him go on a free from our perspective but it won’t be structured as such. £30m transfer fee, and wages of 200k a week or less at his new club, and we use that 30m to pay some part of the difference in wages till 2028 (in reality that 30m allows us to spend now, and the ongoing wage commitment is less than half if he stayed). How much exactly will be negotiated, but he needs a move too so he won’t hold out for 0 reduction in salary.
New club is getting a decent deal, and with lower wages like that he’s within reach for a lot more clubs (e.g. Aston Villa, West Ham, Newcastle…). England international, homegrown, and maybe with a change of scenery he can get back to an acceptable level, even if he doesn’t get back to his best.
I’m convinced he will move within the PL.