Or because Bellingham said he wanted Madrid?They bailed early on Bellingham, too expensive supposedly, Then spent on Szoboszlai and MacAllister. Where are they coming up with another 100 mil? What did they get for those 2 Saudi bound dinosaurs?
It's not just about fees though - if the fee is spread over the contract length, then Milner plus Henderson's wages would probably cover a big fee and wages for one player. They may be in the situation we were when Pep splurged on defenders - we sold/released a lot of older players and bought fewer younger ones. The fees we sold for were small, but getting all those wages off the books freed up the money we needed for our biggest summer spend.