There is a reason eight of the most expensive 10 transfers between English clubs this summer involved central midfielders.
Of all the factors that go into valuing a footballer – age, length of contract, performance metrics, injury record, Tottenham’s desperation – the starting point for any negotiation is to benchmark a player against the market. Once Spurs bought Mateus Fernandes for a club record £85m from West Ham in June, and then broke that record buying Sandro Tonali from Newcastle for £100m four days later, the reference points were set for Bruno Guimaraes, Morgan Rogers, Elliot Anderson, Carlos Baleba and Enzo Fernandez later in the window.
