£3 million (for argument's sake) is still a really good chunk at L1 level, there's plenty you could do with that. Cardiff last year said goodbye to a lot of players; spent about £1m and went up in 2nd. Bolton spent in the last summer window with about £1.5m on fees (they went up too). Of the top 6, none spent more than £2m.
I do understand your hesitancy to sell and replace given Souttar's quality and the recruitment dept. being blind. But we do actually need *some* players for this fabled rebuild and his sale could really help fund it – he also won't want to play in L1.
That said, there are plenty I'd sooner see out the door before him! We've droned on long enough though, drawing a line under it before we bore everyone to tears 🤝🏻