Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs has revealed Julian Lopetegui had actually enquired about Mario Lemina while he was managing Sevilla.
The Gabon international became Wolves’ second January signing over the weekend.
The 29-year-old completed a move from Nice, with Wanderers paying just under £10 million to the French club.
Lemina then made his debut for the club against West Ham United, playing around 20 minutes. He then gave his first interview with Wolves presenter Gemma Frith, and spoke about his whirlwind past few days.
And interestingly, he actually touched on the time he held talks with Wolves four years ago.
It seems the player has always kind of had Wolves in his head.
A move for Lemina was perhaps always going to happen this month.
Because Hobbs has said that Lemina was actually on Lopetegui’s radar while he was at Sevilla.
He said: “He’s a player we’ve admired for a while, he isn’t someone who has come up since Julen came in. He’s a player were able to sign in the past but hasn’t progressed to this point until now.
“Our scouting team pushed him last summer and the transfer wasn’t possible. But we’re pleased Julen had the same belief in Mario that we had.
“When the manager came in, he had enquired about the player when he was at Seville, so has had a long-term interest and the club have had a long-term interest, so in some ways it was fate that we were able to do it now.”
Mario Lemina to Wolves had a brilliant chance of happening the moment Julen Lopetegui took the job
It is really interesting to hear that Lemina was actually someone Lopetegui had wanted at Sevilla.
Fans should be feeling really good about this particular addition.
Lemina has wanted to join Wolves for some time it seems. Wolves wanted to bring him in last summer. And now it’s been said that Lopetegui wanted the player at his former club.
Wolves officials likely felt very confidence of finally signing the player the moment Lopetegui accepted the job.
Hopefully now, the former Southampton and Fulham man can have a big impact for Wolves and help the team climb the Premier League table.