Do you think we made the right decision with walking away due to that buyback clause
Personally, I'd have gone for it regardless. As long as the agreed fee was a good amount of cash (so that we'd have no problem affording a replacement), it wouldn't have really been a problem. We'd only lose him if:
1. Real actually want to use him, and with them already possessing Mendy and another promising LB from the academy, I'm not sure how likely they'd be to splash out on bringing him back when they have other priorities. If the agreed buyback fee was high enough, Real wouldn't be inclined to do what they did with Morata and buy him back solely to sell for a profit either.
and
2. He wanted to return. In which case, for interest from Real to exist in the first place, he must have been ripping it up here. Essentially, if he did leave it would've been a great loan that we also ended up getting paid for.
I think pride came into the decision, with the feeling that he'd never really be
our player because of the clause. Though, if the buyback price was non-negotiable and we weren't satisfied, it was fair enough.