Who said anything about forgetting percieved ability
Percieved ability is not the only determining factor in a transfer fee however, never has been, never will be. Zat Knight had plenty left on his contract, Collins doesn't, hence Collins is cheaper when relative abilities are taken into account. Zat Knight was much younger than Collins, therefore potential resale comes into play plus potential player improvement, Collins' will be much smaller and has probably peaked. We paid much more for Knight so were looking to recoup more on him.
Transfer fees are a factor of many things not just percieved ability.
Collins vs Knight as a defender in a Villa shirt, Collins wins every single time I think about it
Also sorry for the delay in answering your question, I was busy
So, taking that all into consideration concerning the points you have made, do you then think that we would have got more for Collins if say he was on a longer contract?
I'm afraid i do not and thats what i mean by his perceived ability which i believe was the most important factor in this particular transfer!
If Zat Knight had been 28 years old with a year left on his contract when we sold him we would have struggled to get 500k for him.
Zat Knight was actually 29 when we sold him. Contract-wise he had two years left so not much longer than Collins (although it is a key extra year)
Maybe they paid the extra because they thought he would mature with age like a fine wine.