Wolves are set to miss out on Jason Denayer, with the Belgium international closing in on a move to Shabab Al Ahli.
The 27-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Molineux since the summer transfer window closed.
The star was seen as a one of the best solutions after Wanderers failed to land Craig Dawson from West Ham United.
But it looks as though Wanderers will miss out.
It is a blow, as Denayer is arguably the best centre-back out there that is currently unattached.
There are still quite a number of free agent defenders available that Wolves could now switch their attention to.
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Edgar lé (last club Trabzonspor)
lé, 28, is a one-time Portugal international and represented the nation at many youth levels, but now represents his country of birth Guinea-Bissau after switching his allegiance in September 2021.
He was last at Trabzonspor, whom he left this summer.
lé came through the academy at Sporting CP, and then signed for Barcelona in 2012.
He was a regular feature for their B team, but only ever went on to make one first-team appearance.
He has also played for Lille.
lé is a centre-half, but can also operate at right-back which might increase his appeal for Wolves officials.
But there would be some risk in moving for him because he sustained an ACL injury in December last year. We have seen what happened to Sasa Kalajdzic, so this would be a bold move.
Nikola Maksimovic (last club Genoa)
Maksimovic became a free agent after leaving Genoa in the summer following the club’s relegation to Serie B.
The 30-year-old has a wealth of experience in the Italian top-flight having also played for Napoli and Torino, which makes his status as a free agent slightly surprising. He also has 25 caps for Serbia.
But he’s without a club right now, and might make for a decent pick-up.
He has been linked with West Ham United in the past, but he opted to make a move to Genoa instead.
Maksimovic is not the quickest, but he does stand at an intimidating 6ft 4in tall making, him really solid in the air.
Eliaquim Mangala (last club Saint-Etienne)
Eliaquim Mangala, once of Manchester City, became a free agent after leaving Saint-Etienne.
The Frenchman only signed for the Ligue 1 outfit in January, and made 14 appearances for them.
Mangala, now 31, has lots of experience having played in three of Europe’s top five leagues, as well as the Portuguese top-flight where he made his name.
There is a bit of a narrative around Mangala considering he cost Manchester City a lot of money back in 2014.
The Citizens forked out around £42 million for him (via Goal), and his stint didn’t go well and he was then offloaded in 2019 to Valencia for free.
Wolves just need cover at this point, and Mangala is ultimately someone that has experience of the Premier League.
Him being another left-footer is not so ideal, but he can bring leadership and cover.