For the price Jonny Evans will cost this summer, Manchester City might have got Aymeric Laporte’s right foot (not even his preferred left).
Perhaps more elucidating, to sign Shkodran Mustafi Arsenal needed to find more than 11 times the price Evans is available for once West Bromwich Albion’s relegation is confirmed.
It is difficult to overstate quite how modest the £3million release clause in Evans’ contract is in today’s market of souped-up bids and desensitising transfer costs.
Evans got the terms included when agreeing to trade Manchester United for West Brom in August 2015 and sources indicate it was a prerequisite for moving to the Hawthorns with other options on the table.