Yeah, this is odd if entirely true. It's one thing not having 18m to spend, but we know for certain that regardless of our position come the last game, we have parachute payments to fall back on. So 18m structured in a way that suits us, should really be affordable.
One question. If it is true, why haven't Brighton, Villa and everyone else reported to have been interested also not jumped on the deal? We have no relationship with Liverpool that would suggest we get preferential treatment.
I tend to think we're trying to get Brewster AND Balogun both over the line and splitting our budget between the two. This may backfire spectacularly with neither of them joining.