West Ham could have received twice the fee for Dimitri Payet if the player's true value was met, according to co-chairman David Gold.
The France international secured a return to former club Marseille on Monday, having gone on strike to force an exit from West Ham after handing in a transfer request.
Marseille parted with £25 million to bring Payet back to the club, with Slaven Bilic initially insisting the player would not be sold, and Gold feels £50m is a fairer price.
“He’s worth between £40-50m," Gold told BT Sport. "In the open market he’d have fetched at least £35m."
West Ham acted quickly to replace Payet, namely bringing in Robert Snodgrass from Hull City in a deal worth £10.2m, and Gold is positive about his squad with the transfer window now closed.
"It is stronger in the sense that the morale is great now," he said. "There was a period of time, a couple of months ago, where morale was reducing.
"We had to make that decision, we didn't want him to leave and was desperate to keep him. The manager wanted to build the team around Dimitri but, sadly, sometimes it because impossible.
"You do everything you can and then you suddenly realise 'this isn't going to work' and you bite the bullet.
He added: "He's let the fans down, he's let the football club down, he's let the football club down and I'm hugely disappointed."
