i sincerely hope 17 mill pound Paulinho lives up to the hype......i mean we met that massive valuation for a midfielder who only a few years ago was playing in Poland and then the Brazilian 2nd division. isnt that valuation absurd???
i think the 25 mill pound valuation of Benteke was reasonable for us surely, 8 mill more than Paulinho but Benteke is a striker, younger and has a proven year in the PL. His wages would have fitted within our structure, the same cannot be said of Negredo and Jovetic.
Negredo is 28,so his wages, transfer fee, and age would have made him a non starter
Jovetic is younger, but add the transfer fee and wages and his desire for CL football and that made him unrealistic
apparently Benteke wanted to come to Spurs, handed in a transfer request, his wages were affordable, his agent said that his client liked the idea of european football, not an insistence on CL football, so all that was left was agreeing the 25 mill fee....imo Levy didnt expect Lambert to be so convincing in changing Benteke's mind when he had the first opportunity to do so. Like i said Levy probably thought he could play the long game and drag the drama out until Aug 31st. Who knows? Possible though