Club know Wolves want to sign their £17m captain, Lopetegui loves him

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Osasuna know that Wolves would like to bring £17 million centre-back David Garcia to the Premier League with Molineux boss Julen Lopetegui a long-time admirer of the La Liga stopper, according to AS. 

It seems that one or two publications jumped the gun somewhat over the weekend.

Wolverhampton Wanderers are not, at least not yet, on the verge of making 28-year-old Garcia the first signing of the Lopetegui era in the Black Country. But that is not to say the Pamplona-born colossus won’t be modelling his new ‘Old Gold’ threads by the time the clock strikes midnight on February 1^st. 

Garcia, Mundo Deportivo say, has a £17 million release clause in his contract. And, after spending the entirety of his footballing career in the blood red of his boyhood club, perhaps Garcia will be tempted by the opportunity to leave Osasuna and broaden his horizons elsewhere. 

Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui is a big fan of Osasuna defender David Garcia

According to AS, Lopetegui has always admired Garcia from afar. Bruno Lage’s replacement has spent most the last four years working in Spain’s top flight, with Sevilla and Real Madrid respectively, and has come up against Osasuna on a number of occasions. 

Wolves, the report adds, have not yet made an offer. But sources speaking on behalf of Osasuna are under no illusions about Wolves’ interest. To quote AS; ‘They (Osasuna) know that the English team would like to get David Garcia’. 

Experienced, two footed and a natural-born leader (Garcia has worn the captain’s armband eight times in La Liga this season); the 6ft 1ins Spaniard would add some depth to a Wolves backline which lost both Conor Coady and Romain Saiss over the summer. Leander Dendoncker, now at Aston Villa, could also fill in at the back when required. 

Wolves, however, do appear to be further along in their pursuit of another La Liga centre-half; Atletico Madrid veteran Felipe. Per 90Min, talks are underway with the 33-year-old and his Wanda Metropolitano team-mate Matheus Cunha. 

Both players have been capped by Brazil, and would fit in nicely in a largely Portuguese-speaking dressing room. 

Matheus Cunha is an ‘extraordinary talent’

“My responsibility is to try and improve (the team). When the market opens, we have this possibility. And I think we are going to do that,” Lopetegui told the Birmingham Mail recently. 

Felipe will be a free-agent in 2023. Cunha is unlikely to come quite so cheap, however. When Manchester United expressed an interest last summer, Atletico reportedly wanted around £40 million (talkSPORT).

Formerly of RB Leipzig, Cunha won the Bundesliga’s 2019 Goal of the Year award. While not a prolific forward, he possesses wonderful technique and a penchant for the spectacular.

“He has a deadly shot. You can never stop him. And he has incredible acceleration,” former Inter Milan ace Paolo Tramezzani once told FCInterNews of Cunha. 

“He is an extraordinary boy. A hard worker with a great desire to improve, always focused and on the game. He is very mature from this point of view.

“He could be like Jose Mourinho’s (Samuel) Eto’o at Inter: an all-out striker. Deadly up front, but also one who runs and sacrifices a lot for the team.”