I have no idea what our transfer strategy has been so far, but it is clear that it's not worked. Now the club have realised the desperate situation we are in, and they are doing what they should have done in the first place.
Just normal part of negotiations tbh. Club A says they want £25m, so Club B offers £15m, then £17m trying to test the water. Club A have held firm, so he won't go for less. But if a club knows a buyer will pay the first price they demand, they will simply pull an inflated figure out of the air.
It's teams like City and Chelsea who have been mugged off because they just pay whatever they are told to pay, but that also puts every other club at a disadvantage, because it's skewed the whole transfer market.