Sevilla’s sporting director Monchi has revealed full-back Marcos Acuna was never on the market last month, after he was linked with a move to Wolves.
The star was supposedly a target for Julen Lopetegui, who had obviously just worked with the player.
Vamos Mi Sevilla FC reported that Lopetegui was interested in reuniting with the 31-year-old.
There was also apparently interest from Inter Milan, Eintracht Frankfurt and Villarreal.
It was claimed Sevilla were holding out for £10 million.
Transfer links about Acuna came about with the player having had some fitness struggles in the first half of the season.
His involvement with Sevilla was questioned.
Apparently, he was struggling with pubalgia, which is the same issue Wolves striker Raul Jimenez was recently contending with.
The problem had hindered Acuna’s level of performance, and so there was speculation about his future.
He apparently came in for criticism when he made some comments about nobody supporting him during his struggles.
Monchi has now said that the player was never going to be offloaded in January.
He said as quoted by Diario de Sevilla: “As for the statements, Marcos is a very special guy. I have a lot of appreciation for him, and if he considered that he had been left a little alone, I respect him.
“Nobody from the club, absolutely nobody, questioned his performance or his injury. It was something more about you (the press) and social networks. The club has always respected that. He has not been on the market nor have we wanted to sell him. On the contrary, for us he is a fundamental, key player.”
Marcos Acuna links to Wolves felt strange at the time, as Monchi makes new claim
When Wolves got linked with Acuna, it never really felt like something that was likely to happen.
Lopetegui had obviously just left Sevilla, and it’s easy to make that link of him wanting to raid his former club.
Wolves never needed a new left-back in January.
Both Hugo Bueno and Rayan Ait-Nouri are great options, and Jonny Castro Otto can also be an option for that side.
And given Acuna’s pubalgia issue, it’s probably good that a deal never happened.