I don't see what's so hard to see
Lukaku wanted to go , he stated this many times
His agent wanted him to go.
Lukaku actively agitated for a move
We could have kept him and had a stroppy waster on our hands for months , don't forget he hung his boots up last March ( when I suspect the United deal was done )
Keeping Lukaku was not an option
We got good money , Rooney ( with half his wages paid for 2 years ) and a chance to get deals done early.
We had IMO deals done for Keane , Pickford ,Klassen and Siggy agreed before or shortly after the season ended
Granted Swansea went back on it but that's not our fault.
Giroud was the No1 target so obviously he and the second target failed to materialise
Other players were lined up to be sold and we were IMO counting on that money to buy more players
Barkley 35 m
McCarthy 20 m
Naisse. 10 m
Lennon 5 m
Robles 5 m
Possibly FM before his injury 20m was also lined up
That's the guts of 100 m that we potentially lost out on
If things had worked out as planned and we had got that money in and bought a CF 35/40 m CB 25/30 and a left back plus a winger than we'd all be rejoicing
Newcastle being skint and Ross being a [Poor language removed] cost us dearly this window.