Watkins and Scowen - that's about 12M walking out the door

I agree it's ideal from the club's point of view, but if a player says in initial contract negotiations 'I don't want to sign for more than 3 years, and an extension at the club's option would mean potentially signing for 4 or 5 years. Unless you offer more money, I'm not signing for longer as it reduces the chance of me getting a future move to a bigger club' and I dare say that's what's often happened. Not in all cases of course, but some.