Maybe Leeds also had a better relationship with the player, and also saw the benefit of a good long term relationship with us in the future.
Absolutely mate. The stance both City and Brighton have taken on this will have repercussions for both.
I do think the way Brighton are playing this will have damaging implications for the reputation they’re trying to cultivate as a Club exciting young players can show their talent at, before moving on to bigger and better.
Bloom is now demonstrating he’ll block a move when he’s had a more than double your money offer, even when the player is clearly desperate enough to hand in a TR.
Agents will absolutely have this in mind in future deals, and I’d imagine this lack of trust will result in him being hit with release clause demands in the future as a consequence.
It will also have an impact if a player looking for a stepping stone has any aspirations of playing for City in the future, as they’ll know we’ll be very reluctant to deal with Brighton again.
Better to go to Southampton or another club with a similar model if you ever aspire to playing for City.
The negative for us will be the release clause, and leaving a player behind when they’ve made that move. I think that will reflect very badly on City in future - which is the one thing that makes me think we might push to find a deal even if it does go beyond our valuation.