50m seems too goddamn low. It really does. If that is true, we are giving away England's first-choice RB, and a man entering his prime footballing years at 27, for a fee which is probably far too cheap for this environment. To an oil-rich club which could offer to pay a lot more, and to a rival which will threaten us this coming season.
I wonder why we stuck to that number when it looked like we had City's oily balls in a vice given that they were rejected by an ageing Dani Alves just a couple of days ago. Either way, it's not a good sign - if the intention is to scare off domestic clubs from bidding for our players, it won't work with a fee that United (for example) won't even think twice about offering for all sorts of players not on Walker's level. And it kind of dents the image of Levy being a bloodcurdlingly good negotiator if he set a price and then stuck to it even when the market shifted to make that price look a bit cheap.
Also, I wonder what went on to make any (possibly) acceptance of 50m seem reasonable to Levy. In a market where Soton are demanding 70m from *any* club for a mediocre CB who was at one point memorably left for dead by Kane last season, and where Everton are being told to fork up 50m for Gylfi (by Swansea City - hardly rivals to Everton), selling our best RB to a rival for 50m...something must have gone down between Levy and Poch for that to be acceptable, imo.
If it is true, I'll go with Levy accepting to give Poch immediate money to start our recruitment process - we are the only club in the PL which hasn't yet brought in anyone this window, and that must have been a bit discomfiting for Poch, a man who likes his signings in for pre-season training where possible. That is the more charitable, wholesome view of accepting 50m now, and it fits given what we know about Levy's undisputed mastery of the art of the sale. But it still smarts a bit - losing players to a domestic rival for what they would think is a 'reasonable' fee is an invitation for these clubs to start trying to pillage us more thoroughly under the notion that we're 'reasonable'.