Out-of-shape striker Wolves wanted now upsetting people at new club

Out-of-shape striker Wolves wanted now upsetting people at new club

Wolves didn’t get the striker they wanted in the January transfer window despite trying multiple times. They made a deadline-day push to land Armando Broja from Chelsea, but he chose to accept a rival offer from Fulham instead.

Elsewhere, Wolves agreed a deal to sign Yuri Alberto from Corinthians, but they would then walk away from the transfer when the player’s representatives demanded an extra £790,000 in fees.

Earlier in the window, it was reported that Gary O’Neil’s side had approached PSG with an offer to sign Hugo Ekitike on loan until the end of the season with an option to buy. In the end, however, he wound up joining Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt instead, and they will be able to sign him for around £26m this summer should they wish.

Wolves target Ekitike out of shape

As it turns out, Ekitike may have encountered some difficulties in his Wolves medical because, according to reports, he’s severely lacking fitness. “Muscular problems” emerged in his first training session, and the feedback on the player around his new home has been negative.

The 21-year-old made a 13-minute debut as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat to Koln last weekend, but he’s now been withdrawn for the upcoming game against Bochum and it’s unclear when he’ll be cleared to play a full part. He’d only played eight minutes all season for PSG, which may partly explain his poor condition.

Lucky escape won’t wipe away O’Neil frustration

It seems Wolves may have inadvertently dodged a bullet by failing to land Ekitike, who might not have been able to play a significant volume of minutes, or indeed show his best form, between now and May.

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Wolves have revealed their team news for the upcoming clash, and it’s good news.

However, that will only provide a limited amount of comfort for O’Neil, who has publicly hinted at his disappointment after Wolves came up short: “We didn’t manage to get a nine done. There were a few that I really liked and we couldn’t afford any. We could afford some, but not ones that I thought would help us. The group is the group and we get to work on trying to maximise it.”

Wolves transfers out

Joined

Fee

Jonny Otto

Free agent

–

Bruno Jordao

Free agent

–

Goncalo Guedes

Villarreal

Loan

Fabio Silva

Rangers

Loan

Sasa Kalajdzic

Eintracht Frankfurt

Loan

Luke Cundle

Stoke

Loan

Yerson Mosquera

Villarreal

Loan

Joe Hodge

QPR

Loan

Chem Campbell

Wycombe

Loan

Louie Molden

Northampton

Loan

Wolves may regret their decision to allow both Fabio Silva and Sasa Kalajdzic to make loan exits when they didn’t have a replacement firmly lined up, but they can at least look forward to the return of top scorer Hwang Hee-chan after South Korea were eliminated from the Asian Cup at the semifinal stage. Hwang is expected to be available for Saturday’s Premier League game at home to Brentford.