Was snubbing potential £20m Costa deal a rare poor decision from Wolves?

Follow us on Google Discover

Helder Costa’s form in the Championship was so good last season that the Wolves winger was scouted by Premier League giants Arsenal and Chelsea.

It is a mark of how far Wolves have come in the last year that their clear 2016/17 Player of the Year is now far from guaranteed a place in Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting XI.

Wolves were clearly a side in transition last season, adapting to a new ownership regime, and Helder Costa, who joined on loan from Benfica before signing a club-record £13 million permanent deal as reported by the BBC, was by far the brightest spark.

But thanks to injuries, the addition of Diogo Jota and the vast improvement of Ivan Cavaleiro, Costa has not quite made the same impact this season. He has started just 13 of his 24 Championship games and has a paltry tally of four league goals and three assists compared to ten and eight from 2016/17.

So, in hindsight, maybe Wolves should have taken their chance to make a quick profit on the Portuguese flyer.

According to the Sunday People (2 April 2017, page 53) Premier League giants Arsenal and Chelsea were both sending scouts to watch Costa after he helped Wolves dump Liverpool out of the FA Cup at Anfield with an inspired individual performance.

It is understood that Costa was valued at around £20 million. And although Wolves do not need the money, it would be interesting to see whether they would have been more open to the talisman’s departure if they could have predicted just how far his form would dip in the following campaign.

Because while Costa has still played a part in Wolves’ rise to the top of the Championship, he has not been performing like a £20 million player for some time.