Matheus Nunes’ attempts to force through a transfer to Manchester City had no impact on Wolves’ stance on selling the midfielder.
City made a £47m approach for Portgual midfielder Nunes with a week to go until the end of the transfer window, with Nunes then going on strike from training, missing two fixtures for Wolves.
When City returned with days left of the window, a deal was agreed for £53m and Nunes was confirmed at the Etihad on deadline day. City youngster Tommy Doyle joined Wolves on loan in the opposite direction, with a £5m option to make the deal permanent next summer.
Reflecting on Nunes’ conduct in his final days as a Wolves player, boss Gary O’Neil has claimed the midfielder was badly advised and that the club were never going to change their stance unless they received their asking price.
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Speaking to talkSPORT, O’Neil said: “It’s difficult for me to talk about now because Matheus is obviously at Manchester City. I don’t want to talk too much about Manchester City’s players. That wouldn’t have been how I chose to handle it.
“I know players nowadays have a lot of people advising them on how best to do things. As a club, we were always really clear on how the process would go. We had a valuation for Matheus. We also had things we needed to try and get in place to make sure we could replace him within the next few days.
“So that the offer we received, if it had got to the level we were happy with, we were always going to give Matheus our blessing and allow him to move on.
“But the way the player behaves in that situation doesn’t change that. It doesn’t bring the price down, it doesn’t make us more keen to do it or not do it. There’s a lot of things that go into a player moving clubs, especially at that time in the window. It’s not how I would have chosen to do it.
“But before that time with Matheus. A very talented boy. Good kid, works his socks off every single day for us. Hopefully the move goes well for him.”
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