The conspiracy theorists were having a field day as the Wayne Rooney saga came to a speedy conclusion, leaving the Manchester United striker and manager Alex Ferguson with cat-got-the-cream smiles after securing a new five-year contract plus a GBP100 million (HK$1.23 billion) war chest for new signings.
Was the whole story cooked up to extract extra funds from the Red Devils' tight-fisted owners to buy players while more than doubling Rooney's weekly pay packet? Or was it simply manufactured to boost his asking price next summer from GBP25 million to as much as GBP80 million when the club could truly cash in on their number-one asset?
Certainly the way in which the normally media averse and secretive Ferguson was eager to discuss the Rooney affair publicly during a rather theatrical press conference raised suspicions that something fishy was going on behind the scenes. A televised wrestling match between the pair with mock punches and fake blood followed by bear hugs and high-fives once the conflict had been resolved might have been more subtle.
The upshot is that Rooney is now England's highest paid player, with some reports putting the new figure at an astronomical GBP250,000 per week, despite the 25-year-old enduring a six-month form slump that includes a goalless World Cup.
But imagine a different scenario in which this kind of thing could simply not happen because Rooney was already at the maximum pay range for a Premier League footballer?
The aftermath of the four-day fiasco at Old Trafford - along with simultaneous events at Portsmouth where last season's FA Cup finalists came within a whisker of going under - is as good a time as any to renew the debate about a Premier League salary cap.
