I reckon, if his knee was fucked, we would have walked away totally ...
(For those who don't understand the above let me translate to SCM : - "I wrekon, if his knee was fucked we would, of walked away totally")
… but it's not fucked, there is just a history, confirmed by scans, that means there is some risk, so we are looking to restructure the deal such that a larger percentage of the fee is only paid once he has provide his fitness over the course of a season or longer. This led to the situation where it was obvious the negotiations would not complete before the world cup, so the deal was "called off", but will be resurrected after the world cup,
That's what I choose to believe (or wreckon)