If Inter Milan have shut the door on Ivan Perisic leaving this summer, they have a funny way of showing it.
As much as on the "island", it's claimed Manchester United's hopes of prising Perisic away are dead in the water, you have to read between the lines when it comes to Italy's big hitters.
Piero Ausilio, Inter's sports director, this week confirmed United had made a bid for the Croatia international - but it had fallen short: "Perisic is training with us and so far we have not taken into consideration anything that Manchester United have offered us."
The message to his opposite number at United, Ed Woodward, is clear: go higher.
As mentioned, in England Ausilio's comments are being interpreted as the end of it. But the communication lines between Ausilio and Woodward remain wide open. The hold up has nothing to do with Inter's refusal to do business. It's about United's side of the table and Woodward attempting to knock a few million off Inter's valuation.
The vice-chairman exec knows United hold many of the cards in this one. Perisic wants the move. Inter must sell to satisfy UEFA's Financial Fair Play demands. And there's also a need to free up funds - and soon - with city rivals AC Milan dominating the local transfer market.
Beyond Ausilio, Inter's players know Perisic wants out. Captain Mauro Icardi admitted as much yesterday: "If he is not happy, he must leave, as our coach Luciano Spalletti said."
Indeed, Icardi was only parroting what the newly appointed Luciano Spalletti had stated days previous: "I will listen to him, I have no doubts: I am counting on him, but we'll have to understand his intentions. It would not be nice for me to hear him say words like: 'I want to leave'. We'll see."
For his part, Perisic has behaved like someone with a foot outside the door. Having ended last season upsetting management with poor timekeeping, Perisic shocked many inside Serie A when turning out for Croatia at an international beach volleyball tournament in Porec.
"It always was a dream to play one tournament, but it never lined up with my football commitments," explained Perisic. "After years of waiting, they asked me if I could spare three days and come to the tournament. On the sand I'm always preparing for the football season, and my whole life in the summer, I play volleyball and forget about football. It was fun."
Croatia's opening opponents were Brazil, with Olympic veterans Alvaro De Morais Filho and Saymon Barbosa Santos, amazed at Perisic's appearance.
"All the kids in Brazil want to be football players, and he is a famous football player and wants to be a beach volleyball player. I had a dream that I'm going to be a football player, and now I'm on the field with one who has decided to become a volleyball player. Incredible!" laughed Alvaro Filho.
"Phenomenal the feeling playing against him. I'm glad that I was part of it."
Of course it's what Perisic can do on a football pitch which piqued United's interest. A pursuit first made public in March.
It was then that United manager Jose Mourinho was spotted in Zagreb meeting with Pedja Mijatovic, the former Real Madrid striker and general manager. Mijatovic would later deny any direct involvement in negotiations over Perisic, though conceded his advice had been sought.
"It's normal for him (Mourinho) to connect with me about players from the Balkans," he said. "It's clear that I'm talking about players to Mourinho, sometimes my opinion is positive, sometimes negative, but with my friends it must be honest.
"Ivan is a great player, he has proved this in Croatia, but also playing in Germany and now with Inter. I like him as a player, I could not say otherwise, but it all starts and ends there."
For many, Perisic is Croatia's best, particularly after last summer's outstanding Euros.
"Ivan Perisic is the most talented player Croatia has," says former Inter midfielder Mateo Kovacic, now of Real Madrid. "He has everything and could succeed in any league in the world."
Another Croatian with Real Madrid roots, the brilliant Robert Prosinecki, also says: "He grew up during the Euros. He became a big match player.
"He now plays for a big club and we see the benefits. There's a lot of talk about him. Too much. But he is going to be great for us (Croatia)."
So after just two years in Milan, why the itchy feet? Well, rewinding to his first days with Inter, you get a sense of why he's tempted by Mourinho and United.
"I left Wolfsburg because I didn't want to be just 'another'. In Germany, there's Bayern (Munich). It's impossible to beat them. So I came to Inter, where I'm sure I can win things. Juventus aren't Bayern. I did not come here to be second or third."
At Inter, "second or third" would've been a good result given the past two seasons. At 28, Perisic is in a hurry and clearly wants more.
In Croatia, insiders are convinced Mourinho sees the midfielder as his 'new Eto'o'. Together at Inter, the pair won the Treble, with Mourinho relying heavily not only on Samuel Eto'o's attacking game, but also his defensive discipline. The United manager sees that same commitment in Perisic.
Zvonimir Boban, the former AC Milan and Croatia midfielder, isn't surprised by Mourinho's pursuit - and warns Inter against caving in.
"If Inter wants to sell Perisic, one of the best players in Serie A, then it is a proof that the people who run this club have no idea about football. We're talking about a man who has been the main player in the last two seasons, whose energy is carrying the Inter attack and who is also a top professional, a serious guy dedicated to football," he says.
"I cannot believe that Inter is considering the possibility of selling. I repeat, the one who thinks that a player like Perisic is technically and tactically unnecessary to the team knows very little about the game. Otherwise, he would not make such an absurd decision."
But Boban can also lump a certain German working at Anfield into that "absurd" group. At Borussia Dortmund, Perisic never saw eye-to-eye with now Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Indeed, it's Croatian football folklore of how Klopp told an unhappy Perisic to "shut up loser" and stop being "childish" after asking why he wasn't being played. Days later, Perisic was being sold to VfL Wolfsburg.
Surely a confrontation that makes a prospective move to Old Trafford all the more attractive for Mourinho.