Wolves regret exposed as ‘spectacular’ talent nears £100m transfer

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For Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters, Sunday’s remarkable World Cup final between Argentina and France may have thrown up some rather mixed feelings.  

Wolves, after all, thought about signing Emiliano Martinez on a permanent basis following a loan spell from Arsenal in 2015/16. Now starting between the sticks down the road at Villa Park, the £20 million shot-stopper has a World Cup winners’ medal and a Golden Glove in his collection these days. 

Aurelien Tchouameni allegedly had admirers at Molineux too before joining Real Madrid as a £72 million replacement for the legendary Casemiro.  

Enzo Fernandez, meanwhile, could have joined Wolves for just £18 million as little as six months ago. These days, you’d be lucky to get Enzo’s weaker left foot for such a fee.  

Wolves missed out on Argentina’s World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez

Benfica could be about to make a rather staggering profit on a player named the 2022 World Cup’s Young Player of the Tournament too, with Liverpool potentially set to invest a club-record £100 million fee in a player labelled ‘spectacular’ by Lionel Messi and a ‘genius’ by a former Real Madrid coach. 

According to O Jogo, Fernandez is giving ‘priority’ to Liverpool. The men from Merseyside have already agreed a deal with the 21-year-old’s representatives, and do not appear to have been put off by Benfica’s reluctance to cash in on Fernandez for a penny less than £100 million.  

It’s been clear for some time that Wolves maybe should have done more to ensure that Fernandez ended up at Molineux. Per Argentinian publication Ole, sporting director Mathew Hobbs was due to travel to Argentina in June to conduct talks with River Plate. The intention was that Fernandez would be joining him on a flight back across the Atlantic. 

Less than a fortnight later, Enzo was holding up a Benfica scarf at the Estadio da Luz. Now, with the World Cup’s best young player potentially on the move again – in a deal that would make him the most expensive acquisition in Liverpool’s entire history – expect to see many a Wolves supporter at the front of the queue if they ever crack the mysteries of time travel.