The monumental figure Sunderland were quoted by Doncaster for John Marquis prior to his Portsmouth move

When John Marquis moved to Fratton Park, there was hardly a Blues fan who disapproved.

The striker had forged a reputation as one of the most prolific goalscorers in League One, having bagged 66 goals in 153 games for Doncaster Rovers over three seasons.

Marquis joined Pompey from the Keepmoat for a fee that could rise to nearly £2m with add-ons.

The former Millwall forward was a wanted man in January during the 2018-19 season, though.

Sunderland were keen to prise Marquis to the Stadium of Light in an attempt to bolster their League One promotion push.

But revealed in the second season of Sunderland Til I Die – which was released on Netflix this morning – Donny significantly hiked up Marquis’ price.

Black Cats owner Stewart Donald revealed Doncaster slapped a £10m figure on the ex-Northampton and Gillingham loanee.

Grant McCann's side were also in the race for a spot in the Championship and were clearly reluctant to sell their prized asset to a top-six rival.

Sunderland tried their luck with a £1.5m bid – but it unsurprisingly proved unsuccessful.

‘Marquis is £10m but I’m going to offer them £1.5m and say that is the best we can do,’ said Donald in episode five of the popular series.

Sunderland would go on to sign Will Grigg from Wigan Athletic for a price tag of £3m on transfer deadline day.

Since arriving at Pompey in July, Marquis has scored 14 goals in 46 appearances.

The 27-year-old bagged the winning goal to send the Blues back to Wembley, with his late intervention handing Kenny Jackett’s men a dramatic 3-2 Leasing.com Trophy victory over Exeter City in February.

He's primarily been battling with Ellis Harrison for the lone striking berth in Pompey's 4-2-3-1 system.

Harrison also moved to PO4 in summer for a fee believed to be around £450,000 from Ipswich Town.

In total, the former Bristol Rovers marksman has netted 10 times in 37 outings.

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