Please people, do some research. Signing a player over 4 years can often be better financially for a club than over 2 years.
See below as an example -
For a football club, the key distinction is accounting vs. actual cash cost:
Transfer fee: usually amortised over the contract length for accounting purposes. A £40m transfer over 4 years means £10m/year of amortisation, versus £20m/year over 2 years
Resale value: a longer contract can protect the club because you don’t reach the final year with the player able to leave cheaply/free.
So best case, he has a good couple of seasons for us. We establish ourselves back in the Champ looking to go back to the PL and we sell him for a fairly modest fee as a 30 year old to a lower table Champ side and recoup some of the fee we’ve paid.