The funniest part about the Rogers deal is Arsenal convincing themselves that they’re on some moral high ground by not paying.
Imagine valuing a PL proven star player at £80m when you paid £72m for Pepe a while back, paid £70m for Kai Havertz. When you adjust those fees for inflation that easily translates to around £95m in today’s market. To give you a clear picture of the current market Kroupi, Barcola, Diomande, are all going to cost around £90m and above, guys like Savinho are quoted around £65-70m. Tonali moved for £100m, a relegated Fernandes for £85m - you get the picture now.
Nobody was ever going to get Rogers for less than £100m this summer or next. Worst case scenario, someone pays 60-70m when he has a year or two left on his contract.
Lastly, If you spend a long time chasing after a player as your top target and your valuation of said player is about 20-30m off the selling club’s valuation, then it’s one of three things:
1. He was not really your top target.
2. You’re an arrogant prick that thinks clubs should bend over backwards for you.
3. You don’t know what you’re doing.