Talking of Bernie I always liked that when we signed him it was sorted quickly due to a set fee and was without loads of speculation - boy how well that turned out for us.
That Bernie deal makes me laugh because Txiki - even if it's a release clause - wasn't usually one for quick decision making.
But Bernie tore us a new arsehole about 3/4 months earlier so I reckon Pep told him to not fuck about and just get it done before somebody else dared swoop!