Bristol City have stood firm in the face of Aston Villa, having rejected an opening bid for star centre-back Adam Webster.
The opening bid was upwards of £10 million pounds with Sky Sports reporting the figure as £12 million. Bristol are believed to have a premium price tag attached to Webster who won't be moving to the Villa unless a much improved offer is submitted.
For Aston Villa it is very much business as usual. Under a new-look transfer committee headed by CEO Christian Purslow, it would seem that AVFC are happy to low-ball other teams with their opening offers. While the cash is there to be splashed, it's Villa that are making other teams work in the negotiations by chasing other targets and refusing to settle for anything less than the best deal possible.
Again, that means it's time to be patient. Villa are only gunning for deals that work for the club.
Bristol City are following the example set by Aston Villa, who refused to budge when Tottenham Hotspur tried to court Jack Grealish this time last year. Teams in the Championship don't need to budge anymore, not unless big money is shown.
Any deal for Webster would not conflict with a deal for Tyrone Mings who remains Villa's main target this summer. If possible, Villa will bring in both.