On Friday, Wolves accepted a bid of around £54m from Chelsea for winger Pedro Neto.
For the longest time, Wolves have been resigned to the fact that Pedro Neto will depart Molineux, it was just a matter of when rather than if.
The 24-year-old is a supremely talented player, and although injuries have held him back recently, he could arguably play for any of the top sides in the Premier League and across Europe.
On his day, he’s one of the best wingers in the top flight and last term, he still produced an eye-watering nine assists, despite only playing 20 matches.
Of course, receiving £54m for Neto has divided the fanbase, as while some think it’s a deal Wolves couldn’t resist, others want more for the Portuguese international.
So, with that said, here are three reasons why it’s a good deal for Wolves…
Pedro Neto’s injury record
As the saying goes, the best ability a player can have is availability and unfortunately, that is one reason why Wolves have accepted £54m for Neto, as opposed to holding out for more.
Last season, the jet-heeled winger was sidelined with two separate hamstring injuries and that forced him into missing almost half of the campaign.
Sadly for Neto, this has been a regular occurrence. As pointed out by journalist Nathan Judah, the Portuguese star has only featured in 51 of the Wanderers’ last 121 games in the Premier League.
That means he’s been available for just 42% of matches, with the winger showing he finds it hard to keep it fit, perhaps giving Wolves no choice but to accept Chelsea’s bid.
Wolves can now keep hold of their other stars
Earlier this summer, Wolves sold Max Kilman to West Ham for £40 million.
This was classed as a fantastic deal for the club for two reasons; it netted them a whopping profit on the initial £40,000 outlay and allowed them to play hardball on their best players.
Now they’re close to selling Neto, the chances of another divisional rival taking one of Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri or Joao Gomes – three players who have attracted significant interest – are incredibly slim.
The sale of Neto for £54m allows the Wanderers to hold out for astronomical figures for the likes of Ait-Nouri and Gomes as they’re under no pressure to sell financially.
Losing Neto is, of course, a bitter pill to swallow but it does have benefits elsewhere, as supporters now know this should be their final big sale of the window.
Wolves can strengthen their squad
Previously, O’Neil has said that Wolves need to sell another big player before he can invest further funds into his squad.
Although finance expert Adam Williams proved this isn’t the case, with the Old Gold able to afford Emmanuel Latte Lath – a £20 million player – selling their prized asset does open up a world of possibilities.
First and foremost, a direct replacement for Neto is the most important, with Wolves currently looking at Ajax winger Carlos Forbs as a potential successor.
Then, once a replacement is fully identified and signed, O’Neil can look at plugging other areas of his squad, namely adding competition at centre-back, left-back and striker.
Ultimately, the sale of Neto gives them more freedom financially as multiple players can be purchased with the money they receive.