Wolves may have pulled off some of the best negotiations of the summer after bleeding Sunderland and West Ham dry and now selling with a week to invest.
Wolverhampton Wanderers fans were understandably peeved at the antics of the board toward the end of last season. Sacking Mick McCarthy and seemingly accepting relegation with the appointment of the unfortunate Terry Connor highlighted the worries at the Molineux . All the while a group of bizarrely unmotivated yet highly talented players limped their way toward the Premier League’s trapdoors with barely a whimper let alone a howl.
As they look to life in the Championship it was almost inevitable the Premier League’s hyenas would come scavenging for some of the pickings available from the Midlands side and who could blame them. Many of the Wolves players made very impressive impacts at the highest level and such coveting was only inevitable.
But Wolves stood firm and demanded higher prices for their star men, in particular Matt Jarvis and Steven Fletcher. We all knew Wolves could not keep the pair from a Premier League move if that is what they wished for but they were absolutely determined to bleed the teams above them dry for any sort of deal allowing the pair to depart.
Now Stale Solbaken is going to be surely given a sum of the total £26 million made by the respective sales of Matt Jarvis to West Ham and Steven Fletcher to Sunderland. After much wonderment and bafflement at the proposed stance of Wolves not to sell originally it appears the overwhelming theme of such rejections was mere flirtation. Wolves were not willing to give up too much on the first date; instead hoping for a much more attractive offer to be laid in front of them before giving up the goods.
Jarvis and Fletcher get another crack at the big time but the teasing transfer dealings of Wolves has secured them with a tidy amount of finances not only for the upcoming season, but the foreseeable future.
The financial burden of Premier League relegation is vast and The Championship is becoming harder each year to escape from. Middlesbrough, Forest, Leicester, Coventry, Leeds, Sheffield United and Wednesday are amongst many former formidable and perennial Premier League clubs to still languish in the growingly competitive Football League whilst emerging teams such as Swansea, Wigan and Reading have outdone them in promotion run-ins.
£26 million is a lot of money for a football league team and although some of it will surely be used to wise effect by the Danish manager the rest will go a long way to securing the long term future of the club if promotion comes a little harder than they hope.
Have Wolves done great business or is the loss of the two players too great?
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