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Enders Analysis' Karen Egan said the multiple of 5.3 times core earnings was well below other recent deals, and was disappointing in the context of Vodafone's history in Spain, where it had paid 7.2 billion euros to buy Ono in 2014.

But she said Della Valle was under pressure to deliver a deal, and Zegona's track record in Spain made it somewhat uniquely qualified to take on the challenge.

Karen Egan at Enders Analysis said: “While the pragmatism of the move will be applauded, the valuation may be viewed as disappointing by some.”

She said this partly reflected the “intensively competitive” market in Spain, the uncertain outlook — with MasMovil, the country’s fourth-biggest operator, awaiting clearance from the European Commission for a joint venture with Orange — and Vodafone being a “keen seller”, as Della Valle was “under pressure to deliver a deal where her predecessor did not”.

Egan added, however, that Zegona’s “track record” in Spain made it “somewhat uniquely qualified to consider taking on such a challenge”.

Rather than be alarmed by the LFP scrapping its domestic rights auction or Serie A's latest deal being criticised by the Napoli owner, Francois Godard, a senior media analyst for Enders Analysis, believes alarm bells will not be ringing inside the Premier League.

“I think the outcome in Italy is encouraging,” Godard told The Athletic. “It could have been much worse as there is no active competition between Sky and DAZN. Nevertheless, DAZN is putting in a significant amount and Sky is paying €200m (£176.6m; $210.9m) for three non-exclusive games each weekend. If I were the Premier League, I would find this reassuring.”

“If you wanted to bid, then you had to accept the minimum price, which broadcasters thought was too high,” Godard explains. “Ligue 1 tried high prices, but I don’t think they are fundamentally unhappy to go to one-on-one negotiations.

It has become an article of faith that mega-mergers reduce competition and harm consumers. “Four players good, three players bad,” almost has become a mantra for competition watchdogs. It would be a mistake if the Competition and Markets Authority were to blindly stick to this orthodoxy when it scrutinises a deal that has the potential to shake up Britain’s mobile telecoms sector.