Wolverhampton Wanderers remain keen on Sven Botman, Duje Caleta-Car and Nikola Milenkovic but will put the centre-back trio on the backburner until the summer transfer window, as reported by The Athletic.
If it’s entertainment you want, then Molineux should be the last destination on your list.
In 18 Premier League games, Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers have conceded just 14 goals. Remarkably, they’ve scored even less than that.
The fact that Sunday’s top-flight meeting with an out-of-sorts Chelsea ended in a stalemate, then, hardly felt like a break from tradition.
Whether the trend is a sustainable one remains to be seen. Wolves’ wastefulness in the final third means that, if their rock-solid backline starts to crack, those hard-fought draws could quickly turn into narrow defeats.
Lage will lose both Willy Boly and Romain Saiss to African Cup of Nations duty in the New Year.
And with a lack of real defensive depth available to the former Benfica boss – Yerson Mosquera remains unavailable through injury – Lage may have no choice but to deploy the likes of Leander Dendoncker or Marcal in a new-look central-defensive role.
Who will be Wolves’ next big signing?
Perhaps it will come as a surprise, then, to learn that Wolves have put their pursuit of a new centre-half on the backburner until next summer.
Then again, even if the Black Country giants were willing to spend big on Botman, Caleta-Car or Milenkovic next month, convincing their respective clubs to cash in midway through the season would be easier said than done.
Botman’s Lille will face Chelsea in the Champions League knock-out stages in February.
Caleta-Car’s Marseille are fighting for a place in Ligue 1’s top four. Milenkovic’s Fiorentina, meanwhile, are well-placed to seal a return to European football after five years away.
Valued at £30 million, Dutchman Botman is probably the most expensive of the three. Caleta-Car came within touching distance of a move to Liverpool a few months ago and was the subject of a £13 million bid from Wolves.
Milenkovic, meanwhile, will be a free-agent in the summer of 2023.
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