Indeed, but think of the upside. It works, we get promoted, worth many, many times the fee. Or he is successful but we miss out so he goes to Prem for £mmmms. TB is an astute gambler...
We certainly are being bold by trying to deal directly with South American club. Trying to think of other Englsh clubs who have bought directly from SA and not come up with many. Hernandez signed for Man U from Guadalajara but Costa, Aguero, Sanchez all came via Spain ( and of course Ulloa). Has...
Not necessarily a FFP issue as the transfer fee is amortised over contract period so if they cost £16m total and were each offered 4 year contracts, the FFP cost would be £4m. FFP is £13m this season, but we don't know the 2015 comparator, somewhere south of the £10m loss depending on how much...
Not necessarily mutually exclusive - lower league player unlikely to be very expensive. Hambo (not lower leagues but DS) is supposedly to fit the model you suggest.