I am not talking about balance sheets. I am saying that the club need money to spend to rebuild several positions that we are now short in after the departures of five or six players and maybe another 3 or 4 still to happen.
To sign those players, we need to sell at least one asset to fund that rebuild. Only Richarlison and maybe Pickford command a big enough fee to do that. Because we are looking to spend the money quickly, we will be asking that Spurs pay most or all of the fee up front and very little in add ons. Many deals are structured in this way, so us needing to ask for more up front (so that we have flexibility on other deals from this one) weakens our negotiating position.