Daniel Farke made £100m Norwich City transfer declaration in 2020 - his claim has aged terribly | OneFootball

Max Aarons was subject to a failed loan bid from Barcelona in 2020. Three years later, he was sold to Bournemouth

Max Aarons was one of the more exciting young prospects in English football in the late 2010's, with the right-back being a key name in Daniel Farke's Norwich City side, which won the Championship in 2019 and 2021.

Because of this, Aarons was subject to a left-field loan bid from Spanish giants Barcelona in 2020 - one which didn't really ever have a chance of being accepted in Norfolk.

Whilst the then-20-year-old had agreed personal terms with Barca, Norwich understandably rejected the move, with the club's German head coach evidently valuing the flying full-back a lot higher.

Clearly, Daniel Farke had high hopes for the right-back, who was being tipped to go all the way to the top of the game, and he made an incredibly bold transfer claim on the back of Barca's interest - one which didn't exactly hold up a few years later when it was all said and done.

Daniel Farke made outlandish £100 million Max Aarons claim

At just 20 years of age, Max Aarons had already played over 80 senior games for Norwich and was involved in a promotion and a relegation at Carrow Road.

Despite being part of a defence which conceded a league-worst 75 goals in the 2019/20 Premier League campaign, Farke was set on making sure that Aarons stayed in Norfolk, even if Barcelona were registering their interest in the full-back.

He told BBC Radio Norfolk in September 2020: "I wouldn't sell Max Aarons, not for £100 million, because he's too important for us, but that's quite normal.

"If there is a crazy offer, then of course the key people at the club have to make the decision, but I am quite relaxed.

"It's not a surprise that he's linked with the best clubs in the world because he's such a top, talented player. Thank God we have developed him, and we want to develop him further on, and hopefully this will last pretty long."

The nine-figure claim made by Farke was certainly a bold one, but Aarons had a high ceiling at the time. However, he has never been able to reach it.

Max Aarons never lived up to £100 million price tag - he was sold for just £7m three years later

We're still a ways away from defenders being worth £100 million, but, likely, Max Aarons will not be the first full-back to be bought for a nine-figure fee.

Aarons once again helped Norwich to Premier League promotion eight months on from Farke's claim, but couldn't keep the Canaries from suffering immediate relegation once again.

When Norwich couldn't secure a third straight Championship promotion, Aarons would depart for Bournemouth in a £7 million deal.

His career on the south coast started well, as Aarons was one of the first names on the team sheet in the 2023/24 campaign, starting 11 of the first 12 Premier League games that season. Unfortunately, that did coincide with a truly terrible start to the term, which saw the Cherries win none of their opening nine games.

A couple of untimely hamstring injuries saw him lose his place to veteran full-back Adam Smith, and he was unable to regain it from the 34-year-old once he was back fit again.

Aarons was loaned out to Valencia for the second half of the 2024/25 season after featuring just three times in the opening part of the Premier League campaign, but under former West Brom manager Carlos Corberan, the once highly-rated right-back's appearances were sporadic.

His only league start for Valencia came in a 2-1 win against Spanish giants Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, and he returned to Bournemouth at the end of the season with his future uncertain.

Norwich.