Wolves boss Gary O’Neil sounds as if he is completely moving on from Celtic transfer target Daniel Podence as an option after omitting him from his first-team squad this weekend.
Sky Sports have credited Celtic with an interest in Podence. The Bhoys are said to be confident of talking Wolves down from an initial £12m valuation as Brendan Rodgers looks for a quality replacement for Jota.
The Express & Star reports that Podence sent out a social media message on Friday about now training the Wolves’ youth team before swiftly deleting it. He was subsequently not selected in the squad that were heavily defeated by Brighton on Saturday.
O’Neil said after the match [Express & Star]: “We’re just managing Daniel’s situation as it moves. There’s no real comment on Daniel, it’s about the group that are here and want to push every day to put the club in a better place than it is, they’re the lads I want to talk about.
“I don’t have any expectations around transfers. There are so many other factors at play whether people leave, whether people want them and whether the deal is right. I don’t expect anything. I’ll manage the situation as it progresses.”
Podence signed for Wolves for a significant £16.6m fee and has gone on to make over 100 appearances for the club but it appears a parting of the ways is on the cards soon, with or without Celtic’s involvement.
The winger likely has other options across Europe and perhaps even from the middle east, but the Bhoys certainly seem keen to be made aware of his situation.
Celtic still need an extra wide option to complement the players already working under Brendan Rodgers. Jota has yet to be truly replaced and bringing in a player of Podence’s stature would hit the mark.
There’s a long way to go on all this, not least potential salary stumbling blocks, but the club are positioning themselves to take advantage of a busy final two weeks of the transfer window across different leagues.
In other news, “His agent has been talking”; Brendan Rodgers confirms James McCarthy status at Celtic.
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