OPINION
Trying to fathom player valuations in the current climate of hyper-inflation and ludicrous wages is nigh on impossible.
Youngster who have yet to make their bow for the first team are being sold to the continent for extortionate prices, and a player like Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has one impressive Premier League season under his belt, is worth around £50 million – or at least he is according to Ed Woodward.
It is definitely more advantageous to be a selling club as opposed to a buying one at the moment, and because of that, you have to wonder what was going through David Sullivan and David Gold’s heads when they agreed to sell Marcus Browne.
It looks as if the youngster is on his way to Middlesbrough after a report from reliable source ExWHUemployee on Thursday afternoon, but the most staggering aspect of the deal seems to be the transfer fee itself.
According to Ex, the Hammers have agreed to let their man go for just £300,000.
If that is true, then the Irons have surely made a blunder.
Browne is by no means a world beater, but he enjoyed a stellar season at Oxford United last year, netting six goals in 34 League One matches, and at the age of 21, he has a ridiculous amount of untapped potential.
Fair enough, Manuel Pellegrini might not think he has what it takes to cut it in the Premier League, but to let him go for such a paltry fee is borderline criminal.
Hopefully there is a sell-on or buy-back clause written into his deal somewhere to justify such a measly sum, but if not, the Hammers have got this one very, very wrong.
