Anthony Elanga
Anthony Elanga
How do you work out the value of a footballer? It is such a subjective thing, right?
Well, when came under fire from their rivals for selling to fellow PIF-owned club Al-Ahli a couple of years ago, the Magpies pointed to players of a similar age, position, ability and experience who were moving for similar amounts.
The deal was ultimately found to be of fair market value by the after an independent assessor took 18 factors into account.
These included Saint-Maximin's age, position, record and experience e.g. appearances and the competition in which he played the games; his nationality; scarcity within the market for players with similar characteristics; the relative bargaining position of the respective clubs involved; and the 'normal market conditions' expected to apply to a transaction like this.
Such factors, obviously, do not apply to 'arm's length' deals between clubs with different owners, but you can see why Nottingham Forest turned down a £45m offer from Newcastle for Anthony Elanga last week.
This is a Sweden international with immense potential who has already made 113 Premier League appearances at just 23 and who still has three years left on his contract.
It is rather telling that Newcastle have since returned with an improved bid worth £55m, particularly given the fees players are commanding elsewhere.
After all, this has been a summer where top target Joao Pedro, who had one fewer goal involvement than Elanga in the top-flight last season, joined Chelsea in a £60m deal just a few days ago.
Jamie Gittens, meanwhile, is admittedly three years younger than Elanga, and has a high ceiling, but the 20-year-old could still end up costing Chelsea £52m having never previously played in the Premier League.
Elsewhere, Manchester United had little choice but to trigger Matheus Cunha's £62.5m release clause after Wolves held firm - the Brazil international was directly involved in four more goals than Elanga last season - while Brentford want a fee in excess of £65m from the Red Devils for Bryan Mbeumo, whose numbers were superb last season.
Such fees now appear to be the going rate for forwards in the Premier League after football finance expert Professor Rob Wilson noted 'quite a lot of disruption to the market' in the opening weeks of the window.
"Manchester United paid for Cunha and he probably wasn't worth the buy-out clause, which is why it was set," he told ChronicleLive.
"But they clearly feel he is in and around that value and then that has an effect on the other guys in the market.
"Newcastle made an initial bid worth £45m for Elanga and I would argue that was pretty low in the context of Cunha and probably Mbeumo as well."
No wonder Newcastle made an improved bid.