Report: Wolves won’t trigger target’s £25m release clause but Nuno favourite wants loan move

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Nuno Espirito Santo is a big fan of Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Nunez but Wolverhampton Wanderers can’t afford to trigger his £25 million release clause, according to AS.

Forget Wolves, however, imagine how Watford fans must be feeling?

A disastrous defensive record cost the Hornets their place in the Premier League last season and, with fans venting their frustration at the club’s failure to reinforce a leaky back line, hindsight doesn’t look too fondly on their failure to sign Nunez last summer.

AS claims Watford wanted one of Europe’s most promising young defenders on loan in 2019 with an option to buy. Nunez turned down the move, however, and Watford were relegated 12 months later.

Flash forward to the present day and Nunez is still a man with plenty of Premier League admirers.

The report states Wolves inquired about the player in August. Nuno Espirito Santo has made no secret of his desire to bring in new faces at Molineux, with a high-quality central defender at the top of his wish list.

But, with Wolves paying a club-record £35 million fee for Fabio Silva while also spending big on a new right-back (expected to be Barcelona’s Nelson Semedo), there doesn’t appear to be room left in the budget to trigger Nunez’s hefty release clause.

Then again, that doesn’t mean the once-capped Spaniard won’t be wearing Old Gold before the 5 October deadline.

Speaking to AS recently, Nunez admitted he wants to leave Athletic on loan to play regular first-team football before Spain’s European Championship campaign.

He started just 16 La Liga games last season, is third-choice centre-back at San Mames, and was left out of Luis Enrique’s most recent La Roja squad.