This is not an easy time to be leading a football club. Certainly not financially speaking.
Just ask Gary O’Neil, the Wolverhampton Wanderers boss who could not even tie up a loan deal for Chelsea striker Armando Broja during the January transfer window for fear of incurring a 10-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules.
“We couldn’t afford to go to where other clubs were able to go to without putting ourselves at risk,” O’Neil sighed, via the Daily Mail. “It’s the position the club’s in. The position they told me they were in when they spoke to me.
“We could afford wages. But some of the fees – obligations, loan fees, penalties for people not playing – were too much of a hurdle for us. We couldn’t get anything done.”
‘We could have thrown our toys out of the pram, thrown a strop and demanded things, but all of that would have been jeopardising the good of the club and where we’re trying to go. I have huge respect for this club and what needs to be done.
“We are in a good place financially at least where we haven’t broken any rules or taken ourselves into an area that we shouldn’t.”
Wolves hope to win Jorgen Strand Larsen race
Broja would join Fulham on a short-term basis instead.
After playing only 83 minutes of football without scoring under Marco Silva, at least Wolves were not left with a nagging feeling of what might have been.
Though, six months on, Wolves are once again in the market for a striker. And they will once again be under pressure to put their money where their mouth is if they are to bring in a new centre-forward into Molineux.
HITC understands that Wolves are, at least, confident in their pursuit of Celta Vigo’s Jorgen Strand Larsen. Despite talks being held between the Norway international and Serie A giants Bologna and AS Roma, the Molineux outfit appear to feel they are in a strong position to win the race.
Much will depend, however, on how much Celta demand. Sporting director Marcos Garces suggested in the spring that the La Liga outfit would hold out for more than £20 million.
But it is not as if Celta are operating from a position of strength in the market themselves.
As Spanish publication Cadena Cope explain, Garces has been prevented from bringing any new players into Balaidos this summer due to a ‘worrying’ financial situation Celta find themselves in. The club recently requested a bank loan of nine million euros to ease their fears.
Cope adds that, with a new financial year beginning on July 1st, the sky blue outfit may look further improve things by selling a key player or two between now and the close of play on Sunday.
And that could play very much into Wolves’ hands.
“The club must sell players before June 30th,” they write, not even an agreement over the termination of Rafa Benitez’s contract fixing the financial situation.
Celta Vigo under pressure to sell
Strand Larsen was not only Celta’s top scorer last term with 13 goals. He is also their most sellable asset.
And while Cope insist that the Galician side still hope to bring in over £20 million – the prospect of a bidding war between Roma, Bologna and French outfit Lille potentially helping in that regard – Wolves could be forgiven for trying their hand with an opening lowball bid and seeing if Celta blink.
“Selling Larsen for 25 million euros sounds like not much, now,” Garces told Faro de Vigo in February, a stance that may have to be softened by circumstance.
“Probably, in the summer it will be a good opportunity to make one of these sales that allow you to have economic stability. It is no secret to anyone that the season that Larsen is having is quite striking. Surely the offers we are waiting for will come.”
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