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Montpellier striker Andy Delort came within a whisker of joining Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers during the January transfer window, as reported by Jeunes Footeaux.

A lot has changed at Molineux since the summer of 2014.

Seven years ago, a Wolves side coached by Kenny Jackett were still trying to claw their way out of the Championship.

And they obviously felt, at the time, that a 22-year-old striker turning heads across the Channel was the man to fire them into the top flight.

England’s EURO 2021 Squad Using ONLY 1 Player Per Club

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“We put a bid in for Andy Delort but we haven’t been able to close that deal,” Jackett told the Birmingham Mail seven years ago, before the Tours forward joined Championship rivals Wigan Athletic in a £3 million deal.

Of course, Delort did not exactly set the world alight in Lancashire, scoring a grand total of zero goals in 12 months as a Wigan player.

But his miserable spell at the DW Stadium did not stop Wolves from renewing their long-standing interest in Delort after Raul Jimenez’s season was brought to a premature conclusion in late-2020.

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Reports in France claim that the Algeria international was very close to finally donning that iconic old gold shirt during the January window before Wolves landed Willian Jose from Real Sociedad instead.

Now 29, it is fair to say Delort has put that Wigan nightmare behind him. With ten goals and seven assists in 21 games this season for Montpellier, the wily forward is one of the most influential centre-forwards in French football these days.

Did we mention he is apparently faster than a certain Kylian Mbappe?

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In other news, Patrick Bamford claims ‘down to earth’ Leeds United youngster is ‘actually unreal’