When your is club is weighing up whether or not to sign a 33-year-old free-agent in the first week of September, you can probably tell that things aren’t really going to plan. Wolves, according to The Guardian, will hand former Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Spain striker Diego Costa a medical on Tuesday as the veteran forward closes in on a shock return to the Premier League.
Now, a hearty slice of context is required. This is a tale with a giant chapter entitled ‘bad luck’.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. And there’s no way even the most pessimistic Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter could have foreseen the misfortune that would befall Sasa Kalajdzic.
The £15 million signing lasted just 45 minutes on his Wolves debut. After suffering a devastating anterior cruciate ligament injury, there is a chance that his season could be over already. Even if things aren’t quite that bad, you can bet your bottom dollar that we won’t see Kalajdzic again until well into 2023.
Will Diego Costa replace ACL-hit Sasa Kalajdzic at Wolves?
This, coupled with Raul Jimenez’s latest injury, leads Wolves all the way back to square one. They started the season without a centre-forward. Now, it feels likely that Daniel Podence will once again be asked to lead the line against Liverpool next weekend.
It’s not as if Diego Costa will be thrown straight in at the deep end. The fiery, 30-something forward hasn’t kicked a ball in a competitive sense since December 2021, after all. He will need time, and plenty of it, to get up to speed.
To think, this whole sorry situation could all have been avoided. Especial Wolves had offered just £1 million more for Hwang Ui-Jo in August.
The South Korea international eventually joined Nottingham Forest before being farmed out on loan to Olympiakos. It is well documented, however, that Hwang always preferred a move to Molineux. What’s more, Wolves could have got him for just £3.5 million. A bargain of a fee for an experienced, intelligent and seriously underrated attacker; one who scored 23 goals in just two Ligue 1 campaigns for a crisis-hit Bordeaux.
Wolves could’ve had Hwang Ui Jo for just £3.5 million
Hard-working, versatile and a lethal finisher, Hwang looks perfectly-suited to Lage’s Wolves. There was also the prospect of an immediate understanding with namesake and fellow South Korea international Hwang Hee-Chan.
“Bordeaux have already accepted two offers for (Hwang): One from Nottingham Forest and another from Stade Brest,” French football reporter Clement Carpentier said a couple of weeks ago.
“Problem; the player and his entourage would now prefer to join another Premier League club – Wolves. Except that Wolves are only offering three million euros to Bordeaux.”
If Wolves had stumped up just £1 million more, they wouldn’t have had to resort to such desperate measures just weeks into the new season. When they figure out how to make liquid hindsight, expect Bruno Lage to be at the front of the queue for a flask-full.
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