Wolverhampton Wanderers are reportedly aiming to sign AC Milan’s Andre Silva, which is just too much for Aston Villa fans to bear.
Aston Villa looked like the rich kids of the Championship last season. Chinese businessman Tony Xia bought the club off the clearly disinterested Randy Lerner and made his mark in style, spending around £80 million during his first season at Villa Park while smashing the Championship transfer record for Jonathan Kodjia.
18 months on, however, and Villa are now choking on the dust of their Midlands rivals.
Wolves also have Chinese investors paying huge sums to drag the club back to the Premier League. But while Xia’s Villa have been restricted to bargain buys and short-term loans thanks to the pesky limitations of Financial Fair Play, Wolves are running away with the league and spending money like a Champions League giant.
The former Porto captain Ruben Neves is the Championship’s most expensive player these days. And remarkable reports on Tuesday suggested that Ivan Caveleiro, Helder Costa and Diego Jota could be joined at Molineux by none other than Andre Silva in one of the most remarkable deals in English football history.
As reported by O Jogo, Wolves have set their sights on a stunning move for the AC Milan striker, just half a season after he moved to the San Siro from FC Porto for £34 million. It is who you know, after all, and Wolves are certainly making full use of their links with super-agent Jorge Mendes.
But while Wolves fans are giddy with excitement, the increasing gulf between one Midland giant and another has Aston Villa fans down in the dumps.
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