There are always tales of clubs missing out on players who went on to become superstars – and Wolves are no exception.
More recently, the club have been in for the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Viktor Gyokeres, only for them to head to other clubs, shine and become worth millions and millions of pounds.
Sometimes, transfer just don’t materialise even when everything looks to have been sorted.
For Wolves, arguably the biggest player regret came in 2009.
A few years ago Kevin Doyle claimed that a player who went on to become one of the greatest British players ever almost moved to Molineux.
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Kevin Doyle claimed Gareth Bale nearly signed for Wolves
Gareth Bale is now retired, having hung up his boots in 2023 at the age of 33.
Bale is widely regarding as one of the finest British players ever to grace the game, but some may not know that there was actually a chance he could have joined Wolves early in his career.
But the deal fell through due to an injury.
Former Wolves striker Kevin Doyle said in 2017 (via E&S): “I remember he was nearly coming to us on loan in one of the transfer windows.
“That shows how far he has come in the last six or seven years. But I think that someone got injured at Spurs and the deal fell through.”
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Bale went on to become a football legend
It is crazy to think Bale might have donned the Wolves shirt once upon a time.
Had he done so, then perhaps his career path would have been different.
But he’ll be glad of the path he did trod, as he ended up signing for Real Madrid for a then-world record £85 million (BBC Sport) in 2013, after exploding at Tottenham Hotspur.
Bale had started out as a left-back, but then played as a winger following a physical transformation.
His speed and power made him unplayable, and although he sustained a lot of injuries in his career, Bale was undoubtedly one of the best players of his generation. At one point, he was probably only behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of the very best players in the world.
Bale would go on to win five Champions Leagues with Real, and also three league titles among other cup triumphs.
It certainly would have been fun to watch him in a Wolves shirt, but he’s certainly won’t have any regrets about missing out on that move.