Che Adams looks set to miss out on a return to the Premier League after Southampton turned down a £15 million loan-to-buy bid from Wolves.
Gary O’Neil may have a huge chunk of the king’s finest burning a hole in his back pocket following the sale of Matheus Nunes to Manchester City – freeing up funds and easing Wolves’ Financial Fair Play concerns – but reinvesting that cash in new talent is proving to be easier said than done.
Strasbourg confirmed earlier in the week that they had rejected Wolves’ £21 million bid for teenage midfielder Habib Diarra. The men from Molineux also saw an offer turned down by Salernitana for striker Boulaye Dia.
And it was a similar story with Che Adams too.
Wolves miss out on Southampton striker Che Adams
According to The Athletic, Southampton have ‘blocked’ a deal which would have seen the hard-working Scotland international leave St Mary’s for the Black Country on an initial loan deal, with a £15 million option-to-buy clause included.
Southampton are insistent that, after losing James Ward-Prowse, Tino Livramentom, Romeo Lavia and Nathan Tella, they are in no mood to further weaken Russell Martin’s squad. Armel Bella-Kotchap and Sekou Mara have also seen moves away – with Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund respectively – fall through.
I’d love to keep him, given the impact he’s had. He’s a really good player and his energy has been great. So I’d be gutted to lose him,” Martin said earlier in August after Everton submitted a bid for Adams.
“Ideally you want to keep some players and some players are real value in terms of character.”
Wolves have, at least, strengthened their ranks with Santiago Bueno and Enso Gonzalez in the last 24 hours.
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