Wolves failed with a late swoop for Yuri Alberto at the end of the January transfer window – and John Percy has now shared the reason for the collapse.
Wanderers had been in the market all month for a new centre-forward, with Gary O’Neil keen to bolster his squad and get Matheus Cunha into more of a free role.
The likes of Hugo Ekitike, Danny Ings, Che Adams and Armando Broja were all considered, but in the end, the club just couldn’t get anything done.
The ‘strong’ Yuri Alberto was also a late target, and Wolves and Corinthians did actually agree a deal – but it collapsed at the eleventh hour and now some details have emerged about the reasons for that…
Yuri Alberto’s agent made £790,000 demand after Wolves and Corinthians struck an agreement
News of Wolves’ interest in Alberto first arrived the day before deadline day in the late afternoon.
Wanderers had turned their attention to the Brazilian, and had hoped to sign the player on an initial loan.
A deal had actually be struck with Corinthians and everything seemed to be in place for the player to come.
But The Telegraph’s John Percy – who first broke the news of Wolves’ interest in Alberto – has reported the player’s agent made a late demand for more money.
It has been unclear how much he asked for – until now. Percy has reported that the agent asked for a whopping £790,000 in extra fees.
Wolves then walked away from the deal, and focused their efforts on Broja on deadline day.
The Albanian would go on to join Fulham, who reportedly paid around £4 million for his loan move from Chelsea, which was money Wolves simply did not have.
Wolves right to walk away
It is a shame that agent greed prevented this move from happening, and Wolves should be praised for walking away from the deal and not bowing to the last-minute demands.
It is unfortunate for Alberto, having been denied a move to the Premier League.
But it’s pretty poor form for an agent to demand more money after two clubs have already reached an agreement.
While it would have been nice to have more cover, Gary O’Neil does have the brilliant Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan to play centrally, with young Nathan Fraser in reserve.