In checking if we were talking about the same fella, I found this:-That doesn't mean a £17m bid is low-balling. His high release clause is not a valuation, and our bid may have been a fair bid.
https://talksport.com/football/watf...a-striker-florin-andone-emerges-hornets-radar
Deportivo are not keen to sell for anything less than £17m, but even that is much lower than the striker's release clause, which is thought be closer to the £26m mark.
I would suggest the key part of that report is the date:-
Friday, May 26, 2017
Being prepare to accept 'only' £17m in May is very different to accepting £9m less than they have to in the last 24 hours of the transfer window.