Leeds United made a bid for Wolverhampton Wanderers skipper Danny Batth in the summer.
There is a real feel-good factor around Molineux this season with Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves flying high in second place, level on points with leaders Leeds United, while playing some of the most attractive football in the division.
And even much-maligned centre-back Danny Batth has come in for praise recently. The long-serving centre-back, who graduated from Wolves academy to earn the captain’s armband, started the season on the bench but has grasped his opportunity with both hands thanks to an injury to summer signing Willy Boly.
A late equaliser in last week’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Bristol City has been the highlight of his three Championship appearances in 2017/18 but Batth, as a whole, looks stronger, leaner and more decisive than the previous campaign.
A tally of five goals in his last ten starts, from centre-half no less, is doing his reputation no harm either.
And the Wolves fans who would have been more than happy to see the 26-year-old leave the club this summer amid interest from Leeds United may be forced to admit that Batth has won them over not only with his professionalism and maturity but his improved performances on the pitch too.
The Express reported in July that Leeds had made a bid for Batth and his Wolves team-mate Matt Doherty, with Wolves seemingly content to accept £2 million for a player who looked set to fall down the pecking order after the arrivals of Boly and fellow Primeira Liga import Roderick Miranda.
Leeds appeared to need a new centre-half after loanee Kyle Bartley returned to Swansea City, although an excellent start to the season encompassing six straight clean sheets suggests missing out on Batth is no real loss.
However, Batth is continuing to prove his worth at Wolves and, as it stands, the decision not to accept Leeds’ bid looks a good one.
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