The same people would have complained if Tan had blocked that transfer, moaning he was interfering.

Tan went with what his football guys were telling him. Hindsight shows he was wrong to do so; I suspect Tan was treating it like a business, where you delegate and expect people to know what they are doing.

It's also worth pointing out Malky only starting calling Cornelius a "project" when it seemed apparent he wasn't anywhere near close to being Prem level. I doubt very much Tan would have sanctioned that spending at that time knowing the player was a "project". There aren't many projects in the Prem being given the number 9 shirt.