His transfer fee has long been amortised over his initial contract and therefore no loss whatsoever in letting him go for free now. As you say, it’s actually a benefit as no longer having the liability of his wages.The especially frustrating thing about this is that most of the players we expect to be leaving weren't especially expensive signings. Winks and Kane were academy products, so as far as the balance sheet goes that's over 100 million in profit. I would expect that to be used to write off the hits we'll take on others.
For those with a better grasp of the financial side than me, are transfer fees calculated separately from wages for accounting purposes? I know the reports are that we're expecting to release Lloris on a free, but just to use him as an example, we paid £15 million or so for him in 2012 and are currently paying him 100k a week - would the club still need to justify taking a loss on his fee, or would it be accepted that for a 36 year old saving c. 5m on wages when he's not expected to play after 11 years of service is acceptable?