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These are tense times to be a supporter of Liverpool Football Club.
But into every life a little sunshine must pour and, after spending two days number-crunching, I think I am in a position to announce a small piece of good news for Anfield-watchers.
The Reds look set to get a bumper share of the $40 million that FIFA has for the first time earmarked for payment to the clubs whose players took part in the recent World Cup in South Africa.
By my reckoning, only two clubs - Barcelona and Bayern Munich - can look forward to a bigger share of the pot than Liverpool.
What is more, The Merseyside outfit’s arch-rivals - Manchester United - will not even get into the Top Ten.
That’s the good news.
The less good news is that the cheque, when it arrives, will not be enough to banish the club’s financial woes.
In fact, it should just about cover new signing Joe Cole’s salary for a few weeks.
To be more exact, I reckon the efforts of Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano, Dirk Kuyt et al in South Africa should earn the club approximately $700,000 (£447,930), although this is a gross figure and may be subject to tax.
It is hard, even after two days, to be more precise because of the fiendishly complicated rules for calculating the payments.
Not only do these depend on when each player’s country got knocked out of the World Cup, but they also try to take account of different teams with which he may have been registered since the 2008-09 season.
Given the huge volume of transfers that take place, even given the current depressed market, this complicates matters considerably, even if it will not always affect the final amount payable by very much.
To give one example: I have identified 10 transfers (there may be more) that will need to be taken into account by FIFA when calculating the amount due to Real Madrid.
By my reckoning, the net effect of all these deals - involving the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso, Wesley Sneijder and others – will be to reduce the sum paid to the Spanish club by $1,599 (£1,023).
Following consultation with FIFA, which says it does not yet have the precise calculation, I have drawn up a Top Ten table of payments before transfer activity is taken into account:
1. Barcelona $820,800 (£525,229)
2. Bayern Munich $755,200 (£483,403)
3. Liverpool $712,000 (£455,751)
4. Real Madrid $670,400 (£429,123)
5. Chelsea $595,200 (£380,928)
6. Internazionale $568,000 (£363,576)
7. Arsenal $560,000 (£358,456)
8. Ajax $548,800 (£351,286)
9. Juventus $510,400 (£326,553)
10. Manchester City $508,800 (£325,530)
I actually think the transfer adjustment is likely to lead to an even higher payment to Barcelona: for one thing, David Villa, the prolific Spain striker, was already a Barca player by the time the World Cup started.
Meanwhile, it looks like Inter Milan and Ajax may lose out most once transfers are factored in, with deals involving Nicolas Lodeiro, Lucio and European Cup hero Diego Milito perhaps instrumental in removing both from the final Top Ten.
With moves for players such as Glen Johnson, Maxi Rodriguez and Alvaro Arbeloa to be taken into account, Liverpool’s FIFA cheque will also be affected, but should still, I think, be close to $700,000 (£447,930).
Among other English clubs, stricken Portsmouth should get more than $300,000 gross, in spite of sharing the cash generated by Ghana star Kevin Prince Boateng’s (pictured) World Cup appearances with Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs can look forward to more than $400,000 (£255,800), while other leading beneficiaries should include Everton ($250,000-plus (£159,875)), Blackburn Rovers ($200,000-plus (£127,900)) and Fulham (ditto).
There should even be a six-figure cheque for Newcastle United to mark the Magpies’ return to the English Premiership, courtesy in large part of players, such as Cameroon’s Geremi and Sebastien Bassong, who are no longer at the club.
And what about Manchester United?
Improbably, the Red Devils had only five players at the World Cup all of whom, like England’s Wayne Rooney and Serbia’s Nemanja Vidic, were eliminated before the quarter-finals.
This compared with a dozen players from Liverpool and Chelsea and 13 from Barcelona.
The net result is that, even after time spent at the club by Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez has been taken into account, I doubt the Old Trafford side will be due more than $300,000 (£191,850).
To put this in context - and allowing for my imperfect knowledge of the mercato in Honduras - I estimate that United should get a similar amount to Olimpia Tegucigalpa.
And I would be really surprised if the Red Devils are due as much as April 25, a club supplying seven members of the North Korea squad.
That, surely, will raise a flicker of a smile on Merseyside even in these sombre times.
David Owen is a specialist sports journalist who worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Cup. Owen’s Twitter feed can be accessed at www.twitter.com/dodo938