I'm not quite sure what the alternative is....do we STOP Mac Allister going?! The club obviously did well to persuade him to sign another contract a few months ago. If they hadn't then he'd be going for a lot less.
It's interesting what Naylor writes - I guess it could mean that the FEE is set, but that if club X meets the fee it doesn't necessarily mean BHA will sell. Which presumably means we have some leverage with Liverpool regarding what we get in return.
My guess is something similar. Players generally hold most of the cards. In Alexis' case he could easily have run his contract down and we'd have got nothing next year.