€35-40m is huge fees.
Some more bigger names signed with less fee back then :
Dumfries signed by Inter for around €14m after succesful Euro and season in PSV.
Koop signed for around €15m after great season in AZ, Reijnders also signed €20.5m by Milan after great season.
Even Feyenord sold Malacia for €15m to Man Utd.
In this PSR limitation season lately in Premier League, €35-40m for 27 years old CB/LB is huge. We really need to negotiate the fee below €20m or look elsewhere