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Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport: "A good season in the Champions League can be worth far in excess of £100m. By the time you combine gate receipts, sponsor bonuses and the prize money available, the numbers involved are eye-watering."

Nevertheless, the figure United would miss out on is eye-watering and would be bound to impact on their transfer strategy, on top of reducing the attractiveness of joining the Old Trafford outfit in the first place.

The commissioner acknowledges that extra funding from the Home Office and City Hall means the Met's final settlement is "nearly £100m better" than it feared in November 2024, when he warned of a £450m funding gap and "eye-watering cuts" to services.

When Trump announced he was putting some of the most eye-watering tariffs on pause, shares stopped sliding and rallied.

But China – which ships everything from iPhones to children's toys and accounts for around 14% of all US imports – has been singled out for much harsher treatment with an eye-watering rate of 125%.