Wolves avoided £36m transfer howler on Sanson | OneFootball

Wolves, despite in recent years not being as active in the transfer market, have totalled a net spend of £184.8m since being promoted to the English top flight.

Due to their close ties with ‘super agent’ Jorge Mendes, plenty of top quality in-demand players have not only been linked with the club, but have also signed – like Ruben Neves for example, who is now attracting the interest of clubs like Barcelona.

While they have missed out on some potential gems such as Ruben Dias, some of the players that got away they aren’t so regretful about, like French midfielder Morgan Sanson, who now finds himself as an out-of-form outcast at rival club Aston Villa.

Yes, with better midfielders around him!

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No, the French Ligue 1 was more his level!

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Back in 2019, the self-proclaimed “warrior” was linked by French media with a record-breaking £36m move to Wolves from Marseille, but is now rated at just £12.6m by Transfermarkt – a whopping 65.1% decrease in valuation.

The 27-year-old has started just three games for Villa this season, making seven appearances off the bench as he began to fall further out of favour at the club after Steven Gerrard’s appointment as manager.

However, after appearing in three of the club’s last four games as a substitute, he has averaged a solid 6.8 match rating, and solidified the midfield on every occasion, helping his team to victory each time.

Before arriving in the Premier League for £14.2m last January, Sanson was one of the top-performing midfielders in Ligue 1, ranking last season up until his departure as the top midfielder in the French top flight for assists per 90.

The £47k-per-week earner also ranked in the top 4% for pressures per 90 (27.57) and the top 2% for pressures in the attacking third per 90 (6.54) – showing that he has the potential to succeed in a high-intensity system – which in theory would make him an ideal central midfielder for Gerrard.

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However, with Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho bossing the middle of the park at Molineux for some time now together, even while Sanson was bang in form across the English Channel, it would have seemed difficult to guarantee him a regular starting role with Wolves.