Transfer Gossip, Rumours, Reports etc

Yeah, the issue is with the player's agent in the first place, when any contract with Bilbao is negotiated.

In many ways, the agent has a massive conflict of interest when negotiating any contract that includes a buyout clause. It is in Athletic Bilbao's interests to have the minimum fee clause at a prohibitive level, so that they can actually negotiate an offer that makes financial sense when the clause is triggered. For the player, it is in their interest to have it as low as possible, because they want to be able to attract a decent signing bonus and wages if they do ever move club, as every transfer is based on the buying club's assessment of total outlay on fees and wages. But the player's agent is in a tricky place - they simultaneously have to act in the best interest of the player, thus try and secure a lower buyout clause, but all while knowing that if a higher buyout clause is agreed and ever triggered, they will most likely stand to make a greater percentage on the sale. What an agent really wants is one at the right level - not so high that it'll never realistically be triggered, but high enough that if it is, it will represent a better payday for him. It's all very sketchy, but so is a lot of what agents do.